1 June 2000

NEVADA TELE.COM INVESTS £5.1M TO DEVELOP E-COMMERCE

nevada tele.com, the joint venture between Viridian plc and Energis plc, is to invest £5.1 million and provide 131 new jobs - 34 of which are already in place - over the next four years in developing e-commerce solutions for business and public sector customers in the Republic of Ireland and other target markets.

The new Industrial Development Board-backed investment was announced today by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Sir Reg Empey, MLA, and Irene Cackett, Managing Director, nevada tele.com

Sir Reg said: "This significant investment by nevada tele.com will substantially enhance Northern Ireland's knowledge base and place this ambitious company at the forefront of e-commerce, now among the fastest moving and most exciting sectors in terms of global business opportunities.

"I am delighted to be able to make this announcement so soon after the official launch of the company which I attended in February of this year.

"A key feature of this expansion is the company's sharp focus on exports - as is demonstrated by yesterday's announcement of the offer to acquire Stentor plc to expand nevada tele.com's portfolio of products and services on to the network in the south.

"This is also in line with Strategy 2010 and IDB's Competing Globally strategy for helping dynamic sectors as e-commerce and other tradeable services achieve and sustain profitable growth," he added.

Outlining the company's growth strategy, Ms Cackett said: "Our aim in making this investment is to accelerate the company's growth by creating a genuinely worldclass development centre that offers customers expert skills in e-commerce, web design, Internet security, application service provision (ASP) and network integration.

"This investment is designed to position the company to develop the exciting business opportunities developing rapidly from the sharpening global focus on e-commerce techniques.

"As a Northern Ireland headquartered company we are ideally positioned to help customers connect to Internet opportunities through the provision of flexible and quick response services at very competitive tariffs geared to the local rather than the UK marketplace.

"The Northern Ireland location offers us an easily accessible resource of expertise in leading edge ICT training and research in the region's worldclass universities. This focus provides graduates with essential telecommunications and software skills together with Internet experience that will help us meet the requirements of existing and potential customers.

"We believe that Northern Ireland gives us a competitive advantage in terms of the ready availability of the right people with the skills we need and a location with the right connections, a fully digital telecommunications network that facilitates Internet-focused businesses," she added.

Formed in May 1999, nevada tele.com acquired NIE Telecoms, the internal telecommunications arm of Viridian, and Creative On Line Media, a Northern Ireland-based Internet company, in August of that year. It currently employs 90 people at its 11,000 sq ft purpose-built offices in the Gasworks Business Park, Belfast.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

IDB intends to offer nevada tele.com Selective Financial Assistance of £947,000 towards the costs of this investment.