Pacific

Telpac sells South Pacific operations

09:48 am on 17 September 2004

Cut-price overseas telephone call provider Telpac is selling its South Pacific operations to another United States company for US$150 million.

Telpac has been operating from offshore after its operations in Fiji were declared illegal and its chief executive, Tim Gibbons, denied entry into the country.

Mr Gibbons has told the Fiji Times that Telpac has become the largest provider of cheap telephone calls in the South Pacific, far exceeding Fiji's Fintel and any other international carrier combined.

Their new technology for cheaper calls has been introduced in Brazil, Mauritius and South Africa.

Mr Gibbons says after the sale of its South Pacific operations, the company will concentrate on becoming the largest single distributor of cut-price calls in the world.

He say since filing a criminal complaint about Telecom Fiji's billing system, he was denied entry into the country and the investigation was never pursued.