Business Wire: = GlobalNet Announces Mobile Phone Service Launched in Iraq; Free Calls = for Troops Through Valentine's Day

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GlobalNet = Announces Mobile=20 Phone Service Launched in Iraq; Free Calls for Troops Through = Valentine's=20 Day
Business=20 Wire, Ja= n 5,=20 2004

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 2004

GlobalNet Corporation (OTCBB:GLBT) announced today that it has been = awarded=20 an exclusive contract for worldwide termination of voice and data mobile = satellite telecommunications traffic originating in Iraq. As a morale = booster=20 and a tribute to U.S. military forces serving in Iraq, GlobalNet will = allow=20 American servicemen and women stationed there to make 5-minute mobile = phone=20 calls anywhere in the world free of charge beginning this week and = continuing=20 through February 14. GlobalNet is delivering 135,000 PIN cards to the = U.S.=20 Department of Defense this week for distribution to the troops. This is = expected=20 to lift the spirits of military families, especially those with loved = ones=20 serving in remote areas in Iraq with little or no access to telephones. = Some of=20 these military personnel have not been able to phone home for many = months on=20 end. "Since there are only a few hundred compatible mobile phones on the = military bases at this moment, the most daunting task will be getting a=20 sufficient number of these handheld units into Iraq to meet the = anticipated=20 onslaught of demand," according to Robert Thorell, the Chief Operating = Officer=20 at GlobalNet. "We haven't forgotten the troops stationed in Afghanistan = either,=20 and hope to extend this mobile service there by Valentine's Day," he = hastened to=20 add.

The contract was granted to GlobalNet by Global Telesat Corp., a = privately=20 held company that owns the only satellite simplex applique situated = anywhere in=20 the world outside of the United States. It is installed in a = communications=20 gateway within the region at an undisclosed protected location. Global = Telesat=20 recently decided to commercialize this gateway applique.

Growth Enterprise Fund acquired a controlling interest in GlobalNet = from The=20 Titan Corporation just prior to Titan's announced merger into Lockheed = Martin=20 Corporation. At that time, Growth Enterprise Fund revealed that its = purpose in=20 acquiring GlobalNet was to team the company with Ericsson AB, the = Swedish=20 telecom giant, in order to bid for the licenses proposed to be issued by = the=20 Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to construct three GSM regional = networks=20 in Iraq. While all three licenses were unexpectedly granted to Arab = companies,=20 GlobalNet now considers that a blessing in disguise, according to = Thorell. To=20 date, none of those licenses have been officially sanctioned by the U.S. = Department of Defense, although they were awarded by the CPA last = September.=20 During the bidding process, Ericsson began to express serious concerns = about the=20 potential dangers of sending its workers into the war-torn nation to = install=20 telecommunication towers. This prompted Global Telesat Corp., also an = original=20 participant in the Ericsson consortium, to re-evaluate its efforts in = the=20 region. After a brief period of deliberation, it decided that it would = be far=20 more practical and cost-efficient to utilize the gateway servicing the=20 40-satellite constellation owned by Globalstar L.P. for = telecommunication=20 transmissions instead of contesting the three regional licenses, which = have=20 since been challenged by others and are now in limbo. By thus altering = its=20 strategy, Global Telesat Corp., which already owned the gateway applique = servicing the region and has an exclusive contract in place for = worldwide=20 digital satellite phone service, could immediately provide economical = and=20 superior handheld mobile telecommunications to the entire country of = Iraq and=20 the rest of the Middle East while competitors are still trying to = install towers=20 there.

Arik Meimoun is the President of Next Communications Inc. Like = GlobalNet, it=20 is another telecom company affiliated with Growth Enterprise Fund and = one of=20 GlobalNet's rivals which had hoped to land the Iraqi contract. According = to=20 Meimoun, "Their satellite transmission is the clearest and most reliable = in=20 existence, and now they're already operational there. I take my hat off = to them;=20 GlobalNet managed to get the jump on everybody else who has been = scrambling=20 about since Saddam was overthrown. It will be virtually impossible for = any=20 insurgent to fire a shoulder missile 800 miles into the air to knock out = a=20 satellite orbiting the universe at speeds of 17,000 mph. So their system = is=20 probably the safest type on the planet." Meimoun hastened to point out = that the=20 coverage of the gateway servicing Iraq extends into the entire land mass = of both=20 Iran and Israel, and that he intends to bid for rights to service those=20 countries after having lost out on Iraq.

GlobalNet is also seeking an exclusive arrangement for worldwide = termination=20 of voice and data mobile satellite telecommunications originating in = Iran and=20 Israel. On December 22, 2003, it contracted with individuals to procure = the=20 necessary permits for those areas as a prelude to seeking a license from = Global=20 Telesat Corp. Last week, GlobalNet revealed that it had been granted = telephony=20 termination rights for Libya, subject to approval from the U.S. = Department of=20 State. It hopes to finalize a contract to service Cuba in the immediate = future.=20 GlobalNet believes that any contract covering Cuba would be a windfall = for the=20 11 million people living on the island because Cubacel, the only = cellular=20 operator there, purportedly charges 80 cents per minute to call from one = cell=20 phone to another, more than $2.00 per minute to call the United States, = more=20 than $4.00 per minute to call Europe, and more than $6.00 per minute to = call=20 other continents. Thorell believes it is obvious that there will be = significant=20 demand for a mobile telephone service in Cuba that charges only 50 cents = per=20 minute to call almost any destination in the world.

Meanwhile, GlobalNet is confident that nobody can effectively compete = with it=20 in Iraq because of the military rates negotiated through Global Telesat = Corp.=20 Worldwide standard service for calls into and out of Iraq will start at = 50 cents=20 per minute, compared to charges currently ranging up to $4.00 per minute = imposed=20 by foreign networks operating in contiguous Middle East countries. = Thorell went=20 on to explain, "An average cell phone owner currently pays $2.00 per = minute for=20 calls made from that part of the world. Callers using GlobalNet's = network do not=20 need to connect to a cumbersome computer modem or talk into a special = microphone=20 attached to their desktop to make a telephone call or receive one. = Unlike=20 another satellite system operating in the general vicinity, the Global = Telesat=20 contract contains unconditional guarantees for service and clarity that = is far=20 superior to anything on the market, with call completion rates of at = least 96%.=20 I have been in the telecommunications business for a significant period = of time,=20 and I can tell you that nothing even comes close to that guaranteed call = completion rate. In contrast to the inferior system operating there, = which has a=20 call completion rate of only about 65%, GlobalNet's customers won't have = to=20 bounce signals from one satellite to another as does the other system = operating=20 in the Middle East which is purportedly subsidized by the Saudis, so = they're not=20 going to need to charge up to $4.00 per minute to the caller into Iraq = from the=20 USA, as is the current practice of the Arab satellite system operating = there.=20 There is simply nothing available in this market that provides mobile = telephone=20 service at 50 cents per minute. Also, our system is entirely mobile and = we can=20 provide car kits and cordless phone adapters for residential and office = use at=20 very reasonable prices," Thorell stated. "I expect GlobalNet to be the = Microsoft=20 of mobile telecommunications in this region for at least the next year = or two,"=20 remarked Next Communication's Meimoun.

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