Csii to Have CDN$600 Million in Cash.

Business Editors

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 21, 2000

Cable Satisfaction International Inc. (TSE:CSQ.A.)(Csii) is happy to announce that it has concluded the placement of US$155,000,000 in senior notes (CDN$236 million) to institutional investors from Europe, Canada and the United States, along with a credit facility that will reach 260 million euros (CDN$364 million), subject to certain conditions, offered by several European banks, namely Toronto-Dominion Bank Europe (U-K) Limited, Caixa Geral de Depositos S.A. (Portugal), BNP Paribas Group (France) and ING Barings (Netherlands).

Fully-funded Growth Plan

"Funding is crucial to development in the telecommunications industry. With these two achievements, we now have the necessary means to carry out full deployment in Portugal, creating exceptional value for Csii shareholders in the process," declared Guy Laflamme, Csii President and CEO. These significant financial resources will not only allow development of regional hybrid fiber coaxial networks (HFC) for Cabovisao, Csii's Portuguese subsidiary, but also the construction of a national fiber-optic backbone, a genuine information highway that will optimise regional networks while offering all services related to the new digital economy throughout the country.

"Experiencing significantly stronger economic growth than the European Union average, Portugal represents a highly attractive market. Infrastructure and telecommunications needs are enormous and profit margins in the telephony sector are also the highest in the European Union. I am convinced we will achieve outstanding results," explained Ahmad Fadami, Cabovisao's new President and CEO.

In addition to accelerating the deployment of high-speed Internet access services over cable modem, which were launched last fall, Csii's financial resources will provide a broader range of services-such as digital television and IP-protocol telephony - to complement cable and pay television. Furthermore, Csii signed an agreement with Nortel Networks last December to offer not only telephony on its networks but also point-to-point high-speed data transmission and virtual private networks (VPNs). "Everything is now in place for us to build strong and flexible infrastructures throughout Portugal that will help create several income sources for services provided by us or by others," added Guy Laflamme. "Thanks to this funding, shareholder investment value should grow significantly, especially since Csii issued warrants on only 5 % of its share capital, as part of its offering of senior notes."

The funding, reached under profitable terms over the last few days, highlights the financial community's confidence in Csii.

As at March 11, 2000, Csii had more than 63,000 subscribers and 226,440 homes passed out of a potential of over 1.77 million. Csii anticipates subscribers to its services to surpass 149,000 by December 31, 2000. Furthermore, the Company made a gain of more than CDN$36 million with the sale of WSG, its Guadeloupe cable operations.

Csii builds and operates broadband hybrid fiber-optic coaxial (HFC) networks, and through its subsidiary Cabovisao, provides cable television and high-speed Internet services in Portugal, to which it will soon add telephony over IP. Csii will also build a national fiber-optic backbone to provide all the services of the new digital economy throughout Portugal.