Dolphin Telecom Takes Steps to Cut Costs and Focus on U.K. and France

Business Wire, March 30, 2001

Business Editors

BASINGSTOKE, U.K.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2001

Company Announces Reduction of Approximately 600

Positions Across Its European Operations

Dolphin Telecom plc ("Dolphin" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:TIWI) (TSE:TIW.) today announced actions to reduce costs and concentrate its efforts and financial resources on its U.K. and French operations.

As previously announced, the Company has developed alternative business plans to curtail capital spending, particularly in markets where digital service has not yet been launched. The new plans will reduce the total Dolphin workforce of 1,900 by some 600 positions, expected to be split equally between employees and contractors. The workforce reduction will primarily affect Dolphin's German operations.

"The measures we are taking today are designed to structure our company in such a way as to focus our resources on achieving commercial success in our two most mature markets of the U.K. and France. I am disappointed that we have had to make these reductions in our workforce but the deterioration in the telecommunications markets and the difficulty of securing additional funding makes this unavoidable," said Steven Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The Dolphin proposition is a compelling one for business customers and we will demonstrate this in both the U.K. and France during the remainder of 2001," added Mr. Evans.

Dolphin plans to aggressively market its feature-rich TETRA digital services and remains confident of achieving 100,000 digital customer net additions in the U.K. during 2001. The launch of new smaller and more attractive second generation handsets from Motorola and Nokia in the summer is expected to significantly increase customer additions in the second half of the year.

In France, Dolphin will continue to roll out and densify the network in the four regions already launched, including Paris, but launches in four additional regions planned for the second half of 2001 will be delayed until the first half of 2002. The Company will continue to market and commercialize the service on a regional basis during the remainder of 2001.

In Germany, Dolphin plans to switch on its TETRA network at the end of June, as intended in the four main economic regions of Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Rhein-Ruhr, but will not be initiating a full launch of services or rolling out in new regions in 2001. The network is intended to be used to pilot commercial ESMR services for the first time in Germany. This new business plan will mean a reduction in the German workforce by up to 380 positions, of which 230 are employees and 150 are contractors. Dolphin's analog business in Germany will continue to serve its existing 138,000 customers, as reported at the end of 2000.

In Belgium, the Company will slow its spending until it finalizes its business plan in the near future. In line with new business plans in a number of European markets, the European headquarters, including operations, engineering and information technology, have also been reviewed to take account of changed operational scale across Dolphin's European markets.

The specific timing of actions for the workforce reductions will vary depending upon legal or regulatory requirements in various countries.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain certain forward looking statements that reflect the current views and/or expectations of Dolphin Telecom plc with respect to its performance, business and future events. Such statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results and events may vary significantly.

About Dolphin Telecom plc

Dolphin Telecom is building digital ESMR networks in Europe. It began offering national commercial ESMR services in the United Kingdom in the third quarter of 1999, and launched pilot commercial ESMR services, on a regional basis, in France in the fourth quarter of 2000.

Dolphin, which groups Telesystem International Wireless (TIW) SMR and ESMR activities in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain, is the largest SMR and ESMR operator in Europe, serving approximately 273,500 subscribers. It holds licenses covering a population of more than 248 million.

About TIW

TIW is a rapidly-growing, global mobile communications operator with over 4.8 million subscribers worldwide. The Company's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange ("TIW") and NASDAQ ("TIWI").

In addition to its Dolphin operations, TIW is the strategic partner of one of the country's largest cellular groups in Brazil. In Central and Eastern Europe, TIW is a cellular market leader in Romania and launched services in the Czech Republic in March 2000.