Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated acquires Globility Communications Corporation

Changes to Canada's telecom foreign ownership rules enables continued investment in Canada with launch of new metro fibre initiative

TORONTO, Aug. 7, 2012 /CNW/ - Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated (NYSE: PTGI), today announced it has acquired the remaining 54.4 percent of Globility Communications Corporation that it did not own, resulting in 100 percent ownership.

Established in 1996, Globility Communications Corporation (GCC) is a registered Canadian Competitive Local Exchange Carrier that operates in most major urban markets across Canada, providing DSL, Ethernet and Local calling services and facilities.

Until recently, Canada's Telecommunications Act limited the ability of domestic carriers to obtain investment and financing from sources outside of Canada, including telecom companies with extensive network infrastructure in the United States and other countries. With the recent amendments to the Act, small and mid-sized carriers, like Globility, are no longer limited by these rules and can position themselves to invest more aggressively in the Canadian market.

"The recent changes to the legislation have made this acquisition possible, giving Globility much greater latitude to expand its telecom infrastructure across Canada, including the construction of high capacity, state of the art metro fibre," says Peter D. Aquino, President and CEO of Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated. "This will enable PTGi with its Globility brand to launch its owned fibre transport initiative commencing construction of a central business district ring in Ottawa immediately."

Permits for the first fibre transport build in Ottawa have been obtained and construction has begun. This inaugural project is expected to be completed by the end of Q3 2012, and will provide medium-to-large-enterprise customers with greater redundancy and faster connectivity options.

Primus will focus immediately on migrating and integrating services to create a more feature-rich on-net infrastructure that will deliver more advanced products and competitive pricing packages to the Canadian market.

"With this acquisition, Globility will continue to foster greater competition, investment and purchasing choice to the Canadian market," says Andrew Day, CEO of Primus North America.

"This will enable Primus Canada, through Globility, to grow its footprint for on-net Local, DSL and Ethernet services and to pursue expansion projects into the enterprise and government sectors that require low latency, high bandwidth routes on an all fibre network."

About Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc.
Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc. is the largest alternative telecommunications service provider in Canada. Primus Canada offers a wide selection of consumer and business telecommunications services available nationwide including Home Phone, Internet, Long Distance, VoIP, Wireless, Hosting, Cloud and Managed Services and Enterprise IP Telephony. Primus Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary of McLean, Virginia-based Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated (NYSE: PTGI). Additional information is available at primus.ca.

About PTGi
PTGi (Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated) is a leading provider of advanced communication solutions, including, traditional and IP voice, data, mobile services, broadband Internet, collocation, hosting, and outsourced managed services to business and residential customers in the United States and Canada. PTGi is also one of the leading international wholesale service providers to fixed and mobile network operators worldwide. PTGi owns and operates its own global network of next-generation IP soft switches, media gateways, hosted IP/SIP platforms, broadband infrastructure, fiber capacity, and data centers located in Canada. Founded in 1994, PTGi is headquartered in McLean, Virginia.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains or incorporates a number of "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements are based on current expectations, and are not strictly historical statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "if," "may," "should," "believe," "anticipate," "future," "forward," "potential," "estimate," "opportunity," "goal," "objective," "growth," "outcome," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "strategy," "provide," "commitment," "result," "seek," "pursue," "ongoing," "include" or in the negative of such terms or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements inherently involve certain risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of performance or results, as well as creation of shareholder value, although they are based on our current plans or assessments which are believed to be reasonable as of the date hereof.  Factors or risks that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results we anticipate include, but are not limited to: (i) continuing uncertain global economic conditions; (ii) significant changes in the competitive environment, including as a result of industry consolidation, and the effect of competition in our markets, including our pricing policies; (iii) uncertainties from our announcement of our exploration and evaluation of strategic alternatives that may enhance shareholder value or our ability to complete any transactions arising out of that evaluation, including the pursuit of a  divestiture of the International Carrier Services business unit ; (iv) our possible inability to generate sufficient liquidity, margins, earnings per share, cash flow and working capital; (v) our ability to attract and retain customers; (vi) our expectations regarding increased competition, pricing pressures and declining usage patterns in our traditional products; (vii) the effectiveness and profitability of our growth products and bundled service offerings, the pace and cost of customer migration onto our networks, and the successful network platform migration to reduce costs and increase efficiencies; (viii) risks associated with the merger of Arbinet, including but not limited to our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the merger of Arbinet or the timing associated with any such benefits, or volatility in the volume and mix of trading activity on the Arbinet Exchange; (ix) strengthening of U.S. dollar against foreign currencies, which may reduce the amount of U.S. dollars generated from foreign operating subsidiaries and adversely affect our ability to service our significant debt obligations and pay corporate expenses; * our compliance with complex laws and regulations in the U.S. and internationally; (xi) further changes in the telecommunications industry or the Internet industry, including rapid technological, regulatory and pricing changes in our principal markets; (xii) our liquidity and possible inability to service our substantial indebtedness or an occurrence of a default or event of default under our indentures; (xiii) our expectations regarding the timing, extent and effectiveness of our cost reduction initiatives and management's ability to moderate or control discretionary spending; (xiv) management's plans, goals, expectations, guidance, objectives, strategies, and timing for future operations, acquisitions, synergies, asset dispositions, fixed asset and goodwill impairment charges, tax and withholding expense, selling, general and administrative expenses, product plans, performance and results; (xv) management's assessment of market factors and competitive developments, including pricing actions and regulatory rulings; (xvi) our possible inability to raise additional capital when needed, on attractive terms, or at all; and (xvii) our possible inability to hire and retain qualified executive management, sales, technical and other personnel. Many of these factors and risks are more fully described in our annual report, quarterly reports or other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available through our website at www.ptgi.com.  Other unknown or unpredictable factors could also affect our business, financial condition and results.  Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any of the estimated or projected results will be realized. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date hereof. Subsequent events and developments may cause our views to change. While we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so.

SOURCE: Primus Telecommunications Canada Inc.

Primus Canada Media Contact:
Denise Gagnon, APEX Public Relations, [email protected], [phone]

PTGI Media Contact: 
Mike Houghton, [email protected], [phone]