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Metro One Realigning to Pursue Opportunities in Contact Services and Data Management
Company to Exit Wholesale Directory Assistance Business
| Source: Metro One Telecommunications
PORTLAND, OR--(Marketwire - March 21, 2008) - Metro One Telecommunications, Inc. (NASDAQ : INFO ) has announced a significant restructuring designed to improve cash
flow and pursue its nascent data and contact services business.
The Company will exit the wholesale directory assistance business by May 5,
where it handled incoming information calls for telecommunications
companies. As a result, the Company will close or sell call centers in
Minneapolis, Charlotte, Orlando, and Honolulu in addition to its recently
closed call centers in Long Island and Portland and will reduce corporate
staff at its Portland headquarters. About 600 call center and related
positions will be eliminated and staff will be provided severance packages
based upon length of service. The Company anticipates that costs to be
incurred in connection with the closure of call centers and reductions in
staff will approximate $3.6 million, of which future cash expenditures
associated with these actions will approximate $2.3 million. The Company
expects to help its telecommunications customers find alternative
solutions.
After the transition, Metro One expects to employ about 70 at the company's
headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., where it will provide inbound and outbound
contact services and leverage its extensive databases and proprietary
information systems to provide services to consumer and business marketers.
The Company will also work to monetize its intellectual property portfolio
by licensing more than 40 search and directory assistance patents.
After a concerted effort over the last two years, the Company was unable to
attract enough customers who would pay for the costs to provide our
services and provide a return for shareholders. "By exiting our call
centers and significantly reducing our expense structure, we will have a
more reasonable opportunity to build our contact services and data business
into a profitable company for the future," said James Hensel, who joined
the company January 17 and serves as its President and Chief Executive
Officer. "We regret the impact to our employees and their families, but
must change our business model to pursue segments in information services
where we can compete effectively going forward."
About Metro One Telecommunications
Based in the Portland, Ore. suburb of Beaverton, Metro One
Telecommunications, Inc. (NASDAQ : INFO ) is an information services
provider, offering inbound and outbound contact services, data and
analytics, and related services. In the past two years, the company has
processed more than 300 million search requests for information.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, without
limitation, statements describing estimated costs and estimated cash
expenditures that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of The
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results
to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, including, but
not limited to, factors detailed in the Company's Securities and Exchange
Commission filings. The forward-looking statements should be considered in
light of these risks and uncertainties.