ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky., April 18, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Competitive Companies, Inc. (CCI) (OCTBB:CCOP) today announced that, in December of 2005, it began testing VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) calling at several apartment complexes in Northern California and at its corporate office in Riverside, California. The testing went very well, and for the past five months most of CCI's outbound traffic has been routed over VoIP.
CCI is continuing with the project and is converting its existing customers to the new service. With the conversion, CCI will be able to lower costs and increase revenues by selling features not available with the older analog switches. With our existing customer revenue base of 1.2 million, CCI's margins are expected to increase from 22% to over 60%. With the newer features, CCI expects to grow revenue to more than $10 million over the next year, with margins exceeding 50% on new business. With the new state-of-the-art services CCI will be able to expand its customer base to underserved regions, such as Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, where CCI already has business presence.
Dave Reding, COO of CCI states, "With the addition of the new features which allow for a greater margin, we will be competitive in regions where there is more competition and potentially dominate in areas where infrastructure costs remain high. The conversion to VoIP is a huge milestone for the Company; it not only allows us to be competitive in the current major markets, but opens doors in new rural markets that are currently untapped. This will drive margins to levels not seen before and provide a greater return to our shareholders."
This news release contains 'forward-looking statements' as that term is defined in section 27A of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Act of 1933, and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward looking statements. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward looking statements including this one, due to numerous factors including Competitive Companies' ability to perform on its marketing plan as well as factors outside the Company's control such as competition and changes in market pricing.