Ardis Telecom & Technologies Adopts IP Telephony Strategy And Announces Related Management Changes - Company Operations

Cambridge Telcom Report, Dec 27, 1999

Ardis Telecom & Technologies, Inc. announced Thursday plans to change its name to Dial-Thru International Corporation. The Company believes this new name, which was derived from the California-based international telecommunications company (DTI) acquired in November, is much more representative of its business strategy within the IP Telephony market.

Additionally, Roger Bryant, currently President and CEO of Ardis, has been named Chairman and CEO, while John Jenkins, formerly President of DTI, has been named President of Ardis.

"Our initial plan for bringing these companies together was to utilize the direct route relationships that DTI has into various target countries for both our retail traffic originating in the US, and for their retail traffic originating in foreign countries," said Bryant. "As we worked to accomplish these objectives, we realized that a much larger opportunity exists. By utilization of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, and the deployment of Internet products developed by DTI, we can significantly improve the quality, economics and marketing of our products. Our business model has improved considerably as we have shifted our focus onto utilization of this technology."

Jenkins added, "We have projects underway that will allow us to have direct routes operational to more than 15 countries by the end of the second quarter of 2000. By focusing on utilizing these routes primarily for our retail traffic and selling the remainder of our capacity to the wholesale market, we will have a decided advantage over other players in the IP Telephony race. We believe retail is the key to better margins and customer retention."

Bryant concluded, "We plan to provide additional information regarding our strategic direction within the next several weeks. We are very excited about our business plans for the coming year and believe they will have a dramatic impact on shareholder value."

A special shareholder meeting is scheduled for January 14, 2000 at 10:00 a.m. CT at Ardis' headquarters to vote on the corporate name change. Current shareholders are reminded to vote and return their proxies as soon as possible.

Ardis Telecom & Technologies, is a facilities-based provider of telecommunications products and services to individuals and businesses. The company offers a variety of international telecommunications services including prepaid phone cards, international dial-thru, callback, X.25 and Internet fax services. The company utilizes packetized voice technology and compression techniques such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to improve both cost and efficiencies of telecommunications transmissions.

Ardis Telecom & Technologies is not affiliated with The ARDIS Company of Lincolnshire, Illinois. FMI: www.rdst.com.