VoIP Info Spot

"Melick has played a key role in shaping Primus' pioneering vision to be a global provider of VoIP services," notes Frost & Sullivan VoIP program leader Jon Arnold. "Few carriers have been able to achieve this, but Primus was operating a global VoIP network as far back as 2001, covering 25 countries and carrying 25 million minutes of international VoIP traffic."

Melick has been an integral part of Primus since its founding in May 1994. Working with serial entrepreneur Paul Singh, he began his tenure there as Vice President of Sales & Marketing, progressed to Senior Vice President of International Business Development, and then became Co-President in 2001.

Under Melick's leadership, Primus has expanded that coverage to over 150 countries today, with over 1.6 billion minutes being carried annually worldwide in 2004. In terms of revenues, this has contributed to making Primus a $1.3 billion business and a Fortune 1000 company.

Initially, Primus had acquired licenses internationally to carry long distance traffic over its public switched telephone network (PSTN) infrastructure. As various countries began deregulating their telecom markets and opening up their markets to competition, Primus' management team saw the unfolding opportunity. Under Melick's leadership, Primus started its transition from PSTN to asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) and Internet protocol (IP) in 1999 and is now a leading global IP services operator. Today, Primus has a global ATM and VoIP backbone network with over 550 points of presence in over 150 countries, and peering relationships with over 250 other Internet Service Providers worldwide.

With this IP infrastructure in place, Primus leveraged its backbone network beyond international long distance, where it was clear that margins would only get smaller as prices continued to fall and as competition intensified. While VoIP technology was not yet mature enough for mass-market adoption, the design for Lingo®, Primus's flagship VoIP service, was created.

As VoIP technology advanced enough to be offered on a mass-market scale, Melick steered Primus beyond the rather niche PC telephony space to the promising opportunity presented by broadband telephony and IP communications. He aspired that Primus is able to provide VoIP services to any broadband household on a global basis. IP is the lingua franca of multimedia communications -- voice, data, and video -- and Lingo is poised to deliver this.

Aside from conceiving the Lingo concept, Melick has led the deployment and launch initiatives, including product development and go-to-market strategies. He has also managed the process of supporting Lingo across the various organizational elements within Primus.

"Melick has been a true crusader for VoIP and is well known for his guiding mantra: "the Internet knows no geographic boundaries, so why should your telephone service?" says Arnold.

Since launching in June 2004, Lingo has quickly emerged as a leading offering in the rapidly growing residential VoIP market. With the U.S. market expected to reach 16.5 million lines by 2008, Melick's vision and total commitment to Lingo have helped position Primus to capture a significant share of this market. In recognition of this leadership in transforming Primus into a VoIP force, Frost & Sullivan recognizes John Melick as a worthy recipient of the 2005 CEO of the Year for VoIP Services.

Held in Scottsdale, Frost & Sullivan's 2005 Excellence in Information & Communications Technologies Awards Banquet honors world-class companies for outstanding performance and achievements in the information & communications technologies markets. An annual event, the banquet recognizes the quality and merit of distinguished individuals and companies.

About Primus Telecommunications Group

Primus Telecommunications Group, Inc., (Nasdaq:PRTL) is an integrated communications services provider offering bundled voice, data, Internet, DSL, VOIP, wireless, Web hosting, enhanced VPN applications, and other value-added services. The company operates an extensive global backbone network of transmission facilities, including VOIP connections to over 150 countries and over 550 points-of-presence (POPs) throughout the world; ownership interests in 23 undersea fiber optic cable systems, 18 international gateways and domestic switches; and a variety of operating relationships that allow the company to deliver traffic worldwide. Primus also has deployed a global broadband fiber optic ATM+IP network and operates data centers to offer customers Internet, data, hosting, and e-commerce services. Founded in 1994 and based in McLean, Virginia, Primus serves corporate, small- and medium-sized businesses, residential and data, ISP, and telecommunications carrier customers primarily located in the North American, European, and Asia Pacific regions of the world. For more information, visit www.primustel.com.

Primus Telecommunications, Inc., is the company's principal U.S. subsidiary.

For information about Primus' broadband telephone product, Lingo®, visit www.Lingo.com

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company founded in 1961, partners with clients to create value through innovative growth strategies. The foundation of this partnership approach is our Growth Partnership Services platform, whereby we provide industry research, marketing strategies, consulting, and training to our clients to help grow their business. A key benefit that Frost & Sullivan brings to its clients is a global perspective on a broad range of industries, markets, technologies, econometrics, and demographics. With a client list that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, as well as the investment community, Frost & Sullivan has evolved into one of the premier growth consulting companies in the world. For more information, visit www.frost.com.

Contact:
Frost & Sullivan, San Antonio
Stacie Jones, 210-247-2450
Stacie.Jones@frost.com
or
Primus/Lingo News Bureau
1-888-546-4643
media@lingo.com
www.lingonews.com

Source: Frost & Sullivan