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Epixtar to Open Call Center at
Former Clark AFB
Tuesday, July 20, 10:17 am ET
800 Seat Epixtar Plaza to Be 5th Philippine Site
MANILA, Philippines - July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Epixtar
Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: EPXR - News) announced that
it signed a five-year lease to occupy space in the 44.5 hectare
(110 acres) Berthaphil Business Park located in the Clark
Special Economic Zone (CSEZ). The 3,696 square meter facility
(39,784 square feet) at the site of the former base exchange
(BX) will be renamed Epixtar Plaza and have 800 seats of contact
center capacity when complete. The Company projects to be
fully operational at the site in the first quarter of 2005.
The CSEZ boasts world-class infrastructure developed by the
U.S. Air Force and supplemented by new and upgraded communications
and utilities. These include an international airport; high-capacity
fiber-optic communication and data transfer systems; a newly
constructed power plant assuring reliable power supply; and
modern water treatment systems. The area is the site of three
major Philippine universities and sixteen institutions of
higher learning and home to a robust English-speaking work
force. Several other contact center facilities operate on
the former base including one owned by America Online (AOL).
UPS, the global package delivery company, recently selected
CSEZ as its Asia hub. The CSEZ provides substantial incentives
to zone occupants including tax and duty exclusions on certain
imports and exemption from all local and national Philippine
taxes, providing instead a fixed 5% tax on gross income earned.
The Company believes Epixtar Plaza will be the largest voice-based
contact center in the zone and a significant regional employer.
Epixtar has been a leader in the trend to locate business
process outsourcing and call center operations to the Philippines,
where a highly educated, English-speaking workforce is available
at a fraction of the cost of their U.S. competitors. The historical
affinity of the United States and the Philippines assures
a familiarity to U.S. culture that equates to higher levels
of customer satisfaction when compared to other offshore locations
such as India or the Caribbean. Additionally, as a former
U.S. colony and staunch ally of the United States, the Philippines
are rarely the subject of public backlash to offshore outsourcing.
Epixtar has completed 350 seats of its 1,600 seat flagship
facility, Epixtar House, at the Eastwood City Cyber Park in
metro-Manila; operates a 250 seat call center the Manila-suburb
of Alabang; is finalizing development plans for 200 seats
in Dumaguete, a central Philippine city; and has recently
announced its intent to acquire Innovative Marketing Strategies,
Inc. (IMS) and their 150 seat call center in Makati, the metro-Manila
central business district. Additionally, the IMS transaction
brings the Company three U.S. centers totaling around 400
seats. Once this phase development is complete, the Company
will have as much as 3,000 seats of capacity in the Philippines
and 400 in the U.S. The Company is exploring other site options
in the Philippines and hopes to be operating at least 5,000
seats there by the end of 2005. "Epixtar's strategy of
fast growth in the Philippines is in response to global demand
for quality outsourcing solutions," said Gerald Dunne,
executive vice president and head of sales for Epixtar. "Many
U.S. businesses, particularly in the telecommunications and
financial services sectors, are rapidly increasing the size
of their offshore outsourcing campaigns."
"Epixtar Plaza represents our intelligent approach to
site selection," said David Srour, president and CEO
of Epixtar. "With Clark's modern infrastructure, associated
government incentives, and access to an ample talent pool,
we have made a great choice locating in an area familiar to
most U.S. executives."
"Epixtar's choice of Berthaphil in the Clark Special
Economic Zone makes a great addition to the business community
here at Clark," according to Beth Castro, Berthaphil's
president and general manager. "We are delighted that
Epixtar has elected to move into the area and provide meaningful
employment and economic opportunities to hundreds of local
residents."
About Epixtar
Epixtar Corp. is the parent company of Epixtar International
Contact Center Group, Ltd (EICCG), Epixtar Communications
Corp. (ECC) and the NOL Group, Inc. (NOL). ECC is a wholesale
telecommunications provider. NOL provides Internet services
to small and medium sized businesses. EICCG, Epixtar's most
active subsidiary, is a business process outsourcing (BPO)
company -- aggregating contact center capacity and robust
telephony infrastructure to deliver comprehensive, turnkey
services to the enterprise market. From campaign design through
ongoing management, Epixtar delivers value-driven, creative
outsourcing solutions for the customer relationship management
(CRM) and telesales initiatives of third-party companies.
Companies use Epixtar's marketing expertise and well-trained
personnel to acquire, support, and enhance the customer experience,
reduce costs and generate top- line revenue. Epixtar's corporate
headquarters is in Miami, Florida and it currently operates
two contact centers in Manila, Philippines, is developing
a call center in the Clark Special Economic Zone, and plans
to expand to additional sites over the next 24 months.
Forward-looking Statements
This Press Release may contain "forward-looking statements,"
regarding Epixtar's business, customers, partners, future
products and services, estimates of future business prospects
or financial results, statements regarding Epixtar's objectives,
expectations, intentions, beliefs or strategies, or statements
containing words such as "believe," "project,"
"expect," "intend," "may," "anticipate,"
"plans," "seeks," or similar expressions.
It is important to note that Epixtar's actual results could
differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements,
and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements.
Among the important factors that could cause such actual results
to differ materially are (i) the timing of significant orders
for Epixtar's products and services, (ii) variations in the
terms and the elements of services offered under Epixtar's
standardized contract for future service offerings, (iii)
changes in applicable accounting principles, (iv) difficulties
or delays in implementing Epixtar's service offerings, (v)
failure to achieve sales, marketing and other objectives,
(vi) construction delays of new call centers, (vii) delays
in Epixtar's ability to develop new products and services
and market acceptance of new products and services, (viii)
rapid technological change, (ix) loss of significant customers,
(x) risks inherent in conducting business abroad, (xi) currency
fluctuations, (xii) fluctuations in business conditions and
the economy, (xiii) Epixtar's ability to attract and retain
key management personnel, (xiv) the marketplace's continued
acceptance of Epixtar's service offerings, (xv) Epixtar's
ability to continue the growth of its support service revenues
through additional technical and customer service centers,
(xvi) Epixtar's ability to further penetrate into vertically
integrated markets, (xvii) Epixtar's ability to expand its
global presence through strategic alliances and selective
acquisitions, (xviii) Epixtar's ability to continue to establish
a competitive advantage through sophisticated technological
capabilities, (xix) the ultimate outcome of certain regulatory
actions, (xx) Epixtar's ability to recognize deferred revenue
through delivery of products or satisfactory performance of
services; and (xxi) Epixtar's continued ability to attract
and obtain adequate financing (xxii) other risk factors listed
from time to time in Epixtar's registration statements and
reports as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
All forward-looking statements which may be contained in this
Press Release are made as of the date that such statements
are originally published or made, and Epixtar undertakes no
obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.
For those statements, we claim the protection of the safe
harbor for forward-looking statements contained in Section
27A of the Securities Act, Section 21E of the Exchange Act,
and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
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Contact:
BPC Financial Marketing -- John Baldissera: 800-368-1217
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Source: Epixtar Corporation
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