OTE Group is extremely pleased to announce that following a review by Standard and Poor's of its financial and operational strategy, the Rating Agency decided to upgrade OTE to A with stable outlook (from A- with positive outlook).This is a key event, especially in the course of the Telecom Ratings Environment in Europe, underlining the Group's solid financial profile and the cohesiveness of its operational strategy.Given that OTE's ratings are no longer constrained by those of the Hellenic Republic, this event does not exhaust OTE's ability to further enhance its ratings by continuation of its focused regional and product strategies.The complete Standard and Poor's announcement is as follows: ?Standard & Poor's today raised its long-term corporate credit rating on Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A. (OTE) and its senior unsecured debt rating on guaranteed related entity, OTE PLC, to single-'A' from single-'A'-minus. At the same time, Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on OTE to stable from positive. OTE is the dominant telecommunications company in Greece. The rating adjustment follows the upgrade of the sovereign rating of the Hellenic Republic to single-'A'.The ratings on OTE reflect the company's commanding position within the Greek telecommunications sector, and its solid financial profile. Strong operational performance from OTE's mobile subsidiary, CosmOTE, and a more considered international expansion policy add to the company's credit strength. OTE is currently 51% government-owned. Further privatization of OTE should not affect the creditworthiness of OTE, as government support is not factored into the rating.OTE continues to improve operational efficiency through domestic infrastructure investment, tariff rebalancing, and workforce reduction programs. While these initiatives have led to some near-term degradation in EBITDA margin, they have also facilitated a shift in revenue mix towards high-growth areas such as mobile services, and have enhanced OTE's strong competitive position in the recently liberalized Greek fixed-line telephony market.Furthermore, OTE's international investment program has been refocused predominantly towards mobile assets in neighboring countries--as evidenced by the acquisition of a Bulgarian mobile license in December 2000. Although this strategy will continue to increase OTE's exposure to operations that represent considerably higher risk than OTE's domestic business, the strategy appears manageable relative to OTE's balance sheet strength and domestic market position. Although OTE's gearing has increased as a result of recent domestic and international investment, the company's balance sheet and cash flow protection measures remain strong. For the year ended Dec. 31, 2000, OTE had total debt-to-capital of about 39%, and preexceptional EBITDA net interest coverage of about 18 times (x).?