Current reports

Warsaw, Poland - September 24, 1999 - Netia Holdings SA (Nasdaq: NTIA) has agreed to acquire TopNet Sp. z o.o, one of Poland's largest internet service providers. The transaction, valued at USD 800,000, will be made through Netia's 100% owned subsidiary Internetia Telekom. The TopNet purchase will significantly strengthen Netia's internet presence, enabling the company to offer its customers high quality Netia-branded internet services by the end of the year. The transaction must still be approved by the Polish Ministry of Communications and the Polish Anti-monopoly Office. The acquisition will close once the applicable regulatory consents are obtained.

 

TopNet has points of presence (POPs) in over 30 cities throughout Poland. In 1998 TopNet generated revenue of PLN 2,081,000 (USD 600,000). The company holds a nation-wide license from the Polish Ministry of Communications for the provision of internet services and offers a variety of internet services including access to internet, web hosting, turn-key solutions and content provisioning (information, entertainment and business web services).

 

Commenting on the acquisition, George Makowski, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Netia said: "We believe that the Polish internet market offers immense potential. TopNet offers Netia the ideal platform for building a strong presence in the dynamic ISP segment. We decided to intensify our investment in internet because our customers require immediate and efficient access to the internet. With the support of TopNet, Netia customers will have high quality global internet access by the end of this year."

 

Zbigniew Wierzbicki CEO of TopNet said: "This agreement with Netia is a milestone in TopNet's development. Over the past two years the growth of our company was directly attributable to the increasing quality of these services. Thanks to our new partner we will be able to offer our services to a much larger customer base, open new points of presence, launch new products and develop our network. We expect that the internet market to continue its rapid growth and that customers will demand a higher quality of service. With the support of Netia we are very well positioned for these challenges."

 

Netia is the largest alternative fixed-line telecommunications operator in Poland, with 23 licenses for local telecommunications services in territories covering some 13 million people or approximately 33% of the Polish population. Currently the company's digital access network is serving over 215,000 subscriber lines, out of which over 40,000 are dedicated to business customers.

 

The Company's local telephone license territories cover five of the country's ten largest urban areas including Krakow, Poznan, Gdansk, Lublin, Katowice and several territories surrounding the city of Warsaw. Netia has also secured the benefit of a data and IP license to provide data transmission and internet-based services nationally.