McLean, Virginia - September 9, 2004 - Remember a few years ago when you didn’t have to include a “1,” and those extra three digits for your area code every time you made a local phone call? Effective today, Lingo, the high-speed Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider (www.lingo.com), will begin offering customers abbreviated, seven-digit dialing options for calls made across the street, or to the next town. Calls made within the same regional area code will not require Lingo customers to first enter a “1,” or the three-digit area code.
Lingo’s seven-digit dialing option is a simple, convenient new feature available at no additional charge to all U.S. customers.
Seven-digit dialing is especially relevant in major metropolitan areas where the phone company requires the caller to dial “1,” plus the area code, then the phone number—to place a local call to friends and family. This 11-digit dialing process has been bothersome in a society that increasingly caters to consumer convenience. For example, if the Lingo caller lives in Boston’s 617 area code and wants to call a friend in the same area code, instead of dialing “617,” plus the number (617-xxx-xxxx), they would simply dial the seven-digits (xxx-xxxx).
To place a call outside of their area code - better known as a “long-distance” call -- customers can simply make a 10-digit call, including the area code and phone number. For example, if the same Lingo customer in Boston’s 617 area code wanted to call Los Angeles (310), they would dial 310-XXX-XXXX, without the requirement for the extra “1.”
If Lingo customers don’t want to take advantage of the abbreviated dialing options, 10- or 11-digit dialing may still be used, and will work automatically.
About Lingo
For customers with high-speed Internet access, Lingo is the most affordable of the major broadband telephone services on the market today, at savings of up to 80 percent over traditional phone companies.
Lingo service costs $19.95 per month and includes:
- Unlimited local and long-distance calls in the U.S., including Hawaii, Alaska, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico
- Unlimited international calls to Canada and Western European countries
- Very low rates to over 230 other top international locations
- The opportunity to keep your current phone number
- A free Lingo Analog Telephone Adapter ("ATA")
- Over 25 calling features at no charge
- Unlimited calls between Lingo customers
- A primary U.S. Universal Number (pick from over 220 area codes in 46 states)
Lingo customers may also add newly introduced International Universal Numbers (currently available from 12 international countries) at a monthly charge of $10.00 per number.
About Primus and VoIP
Primus Telecommunications, Inc., the company that created Lingo, is the principal U.S. subsidiary of Primus Telecommunications Group, Incorporated (OTCBB:PRTL), a Fortune 1000(R) global telecommunications company with $1.3 billion in annual revenue. Headquartered in McLean, VA, and founded in 1994, the company is among the largest international telecommunications concerns.
The company offers voice, Internet, Voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP), digital subscriber line (DSL), and other data services to corporate customers, small- and medium-sized businesses, residential customers, and other communications carriers located throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
Primus owns and operates an extensive global network, including a VoIP "backbone" that reaches over 150 countries through 550 points-of-presence throughout the world. Primus first entered the VoIP market in 1999, and now carries more than one billion minutes of VoIP traffic annually.
In addition to offering consumer and business VoIP services to customers outside of North America, this year Primus was the first communications company in Canada to roll out a broadband telephone service for residential customers, called TalkBroadband(TM).
Lingo is a trademark of Primus.
For more information about Lingo, visit: http://www.lingo.com.
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