PRIMUS Enters Latin American Market

PRIMUS Telecommunications Group Inc.
Thursday made its first buy in Latin America, purchasing a 51 percent stake
in Brazilian independent ISP Matrix
Internet S.A.

Matrix Internet ranks as Brazil’s largest independent and fifth largest
overall ISP, according to PRIMUS (PRTL)
. Matrix Internet currently lists 54,000
users, and claims its subscriber base has been doubling annually since the
company’s founding in 1996.

The ISP’s network has a total of 50 points-of-presence in major
cities, and the POPs are connected by Matrix’s fiber backbone to allow the
company to manage its own network.

The company has also created its own portal site, Portal Matrix, which
boasts 26 million page views per month and an 800 percent revenue increase
in the past year.

“This acquisition represents another key step in implementing PRIMUS’s
strategy to be a global voice, data and Internet services provider with
customers and operations in select major markets around the world,”
commented K. Paul Singh, PRIMUS’s chairman and chief executive officer.

“It also positions us with a rapidly growing customer base and distribution
channel to seize additional opportunities as Brazil deregulates its
telecommunications sector.”

Matrix Internet sees the deal as a means to offer enhanced broadband access
services, virtual private network service, Web hosting, and
e-commerce, among other services. The company expects it will expand its IP
market portfolio significantly through the deal.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.