PANAFON HELLENIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY SA (?Panafon?), the leading provider of mobile telecommunications in Greece, announces its total registered customer base reached 2,340,020 customers during the fiscal year ending March 2001, a 32% increase compared to the corresponding period ending 31 March 2000.During the year, Panafon's net additions totaled 567,146. Total churn was 22.7%, a decrease of 6 percentage points compared to the previous comparative year, reflecting the increasing loyalty of Panafon customers.At the end of the period, pre-pay customers totaled 1,598,709 and represented 68.3% of the total customer base. These numbers are in line with similar trends in other European markets.The results where achieved in an environment of intense competition, zero subsidies for the pre-pay market and an elimination of subsidies for contract customers, confirming the success of Panafon's profitable growth strategy and reinforcing Panafon's position as the leading cellular operator in Greece.During the quarter ending 31 March 2001, Panafon-Vodafone made a series of important strategic moves to enrich its product and service offering to its customer base: · Panafon was the first Greek cellular operator and one of the first companies in the Vodafone Group to announce the commercial launch of GPRS technology based services to both retail and corporate customers. GPRS technology based services can reach speeds of 36kbps for the time being, potentially increasing up to more than 100 Kbps, compared to the 9.6 Kbps available today. § Just after the end of the quarter on 4 April 2001, Panafon's shareholders at an Extraordinary General Meeting approved the merger of Panafon S.A., Panafon Emporiki S.A and Unifon S.A. under a corporate scheme whereby Panafon will acquire the whole of the issued share capital of Unifon that it does not already own. This will allow Panafon to restructure its commercial distribution network and create an independent retail chain of Panafon shops by merging Service Providers and creating a fully owned Panafon-Vodafone retail chain. § Panafon announced its participation for a joint venture with Vizzavi Europe for the development and operation of the ?Vizzavi? multi-access portal in Greece. The new company ?Vizzavi Hellas ? will focus its activities in the development of fixed and mobile internet and e-commerce. § Panafon, bidding in partnership with Vodafone Group via the joint venture Vodafone International Holdings BV, was the highest bidder at USD38 million for the second GSM license in Albania in an international tender that took place early this year. This was a further step in Panafon's strategy of expanding its international presence in the Balkans, a mobile telecommunications market that offers great growth potential. · Panafon agreed to acquire a 51% equity stake in the Greek Company Ideal Telecom. The agreement with Ideal Telecom will contribute significantly to the deployment of Panafon's Data Communications strategy · Panafon was granted a fixed wireless licence in the 25GHz band . The license allows Panafon to offer integrated telecommunications services to its corporate customers, through its ‘One Stop Shop' solutions whilst utilising the advantages of the liberated Greek telecommunications market.