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Tricom and BEC-TEL Announce Partnership to Deploy Wireless Public Payphone System in the Dominican Republic

Posted on: Monday, 15 November 2004, 09:00 CST

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tricom, S.A. (OTC Pink Sheets: TRICY) today announced that it has entered into a partnership agreement with BEC Telecom, S.A. (BEC-TEL) to provide remote rural and urban communities in the Dominican Republic with convenient, cost- effective access to telecommunication services through the deployment of a wireless public payphone system.

BEC-TEL has been awarded a contract by the Dominican government to deliver and install more than 1,700 latest generation wireless payphones in rural areas of the Dominican Republic, underserved by wireless and landline phone systems, at a total cost of approximately $6.4 million. Through its telecommunications switching facilities in the United States and the Dominican Republic, Tricom will help provide the origination, transport and termination of local, domestic and international long distance traffic, as well as provide on-going network maintenance and support services.

"We are excited to partner with BEC Telecom, a leader in the deployment of advanced public telephony networks," said Carl Carlson, Chief Executive Officer of Tricom. "This project provides us with an important vehicle for advertising the Company's services and the opportunity to develop new sources of revenue by bringing affordable and reliable wireless communications to previously underserved remote locations in the Dominican Republic. The development and success of this project represents a promising market for the Company and puts us in a strong position to provide these communities with additional services in the future, including voice, high-speed Internet access and other valued services."

The wireless payphone system will be built on a highly reliable, scalable and flexible digital wireless technology, including CDMA-based cellular technology bringing services to centralized telecenters without the expense of laying cable and wire into remote areas. The system has been specifically developed to increase service provider revenue streams by making a broad range of voice and data services accessible. In addition to expanding Tricom's presence in remote locations, the payphone system will allow the Company to have an advantage over its other wireless competitors. Non-cellular phone owners will be able to purchase the Company's prepaid cellular cards and place calls from public wireless payphones.

"We are proud of our reputation for innovation in telecom systems and are excited to partner with a leading provider like Tricom to deploy a wireless public payphone system and provide accessible telecommunication services to remote areas of the Dominican Republic," said Giora Oron, President of BEC Telecom. "This project will bring thousands of people into the Dominican telecommunications network for the first time. Our proven track record of providing hardware and software solutions for ambitious wireline and wireless public telephony networks and IP-based voice and data services, including Kazakhstan, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Chile, made us the logical choice for this project."

About BEC Telecom

The BEC-TEL team has over fifteen years of experience in the areas of public telephony and large-scale telecom projects. Its founding members have installed the largest number of rural telephony networks worldwide and have the widest experience in this area. BEC Telecom is funded by a group of investors specializing in infrastructure projects internationally, and was founded with the express purpose of developing telecom projects in Latin America.

About TRICOM

Tricom, S.A. is a full service communications services provider in the Dominican Republic. The Company offers local, long distance, mobile, cable television and broadband data transmission and Internet services. Through Tricom USA, the Company is one of the few Latin American-based long distance carriers that is licensed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to own and operate switching facilities in the United States. Through its subsidiary, TCN Dominicana, S.A., the Company is the largest cable television operator in the Dominican Republic based on its number of subscribers and homes passed. For more information about Tricom, please visit http://www.tricom.net/ .

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature are forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions based on current information and expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially due to various factors. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed herein include economic considerations that could affect demand for telecommunications services and the ability of the Company to make collections, inflation, regulatory factors, legal proceedings, exchange controls and occurrences in currency markets, competition, and the risk factors set forth in the Company's various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its more recently filed Annual Report on Form 20-F. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof.

For Further Information Contact:

Miguel Guerrero, Investor Relations

Ph (809) 476-4044 / 4012

E-mail: investor.relations@tricom.net

For additional information, please visit Tricom's Investor Relations website at http://www.tdr-investor.com/ or contact our Investor Relations department at the above numbers.

Tricom, S.A.

CONTACT: Miguel Guerrero, Investor Relations, Tricom, +1-809-476-4044,+1-809-476-4012, or investor.relations@tricom.net

Web site: http://www.tricom.net/http://www.tdr-investor.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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