Posted: 10/1997
People on the Move
UniDial Communications announced that Roy Wilkens has been elected to its board of directors. Wilkens joined the The Williams Companies in 1977 where he most recently served as president and CEO of WorldCom.
James Smith, former president of the Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel), has joined Dallas-based Excel Communications as Vice President of Law and Public Policy, working from the company's new Washington office. He began his new position Oct. 1.
Wahlstrom & Co., the Yellow Pages advertising unit of True North Communications Inc., appointed Tim Cullnan as Vice President, Managing Director at the company's Louisville office. Cullnan has held vice presidency positions for D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, Woodward Direct and TMP Worldwide.
Peggy Gyure and Anne L. Shaw both recently joined Telemarketing Concepts. Gyure's new position will be as director of systems operations. She brings extensive experience in telemarketing and in the operation of predictive dialing systems. Prior to joining Telemarketing Concepts, Gyure held a similar position at Telnet Systems.
Shaw joins the company as director of human resources. Previously, Shaw held various management and supervisory positions in manufacturing and retail. She will be responsible for developing and recommending policies and procedures for personnel matters.
Andrew Maunder, president and CEO of Axiom Inc. has recently been appointed chair of the company. He succeeds Dr. Edmund Hough, who resigned from the position to pursue other interests. Maunder has been with Axiom since September 1994, and recently guided the company through its initial public offering.
Telco Communications Group Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries announced that Selby A. Shaver was named President of Telco Network Services Inc. In his new position, Shaver will oversee operations of the switch sites, including personnel, expansion of existing switches and integration into the Telco network of the 100,000 miles of DS-3 capacity recently acquired from Advantis. Shaver joined Advantis in 1993 as Vice President of Network Infrastructure.
Lee W. Wolfe was appointed Vice President of Investor Relations for Qwest Communications International Inc. Wolfe will be in charge of investor relations strategies and plans as well as communications with shareholders and the investment community. Wolfe joins Qwest after a 33-year career at AT&T.
Qwest Communications also announced that James Crowe has been elected a director of the company. Crowe is President and CEO of Kiewit Diversified Group Inc., a corporation with interests in mining, telecommunications, energy and infrastructure privatization and development.
ICG Telecom Group Inc. has selected Peter H. Meyer as Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Southeast region. Meyer will be based in Atlanta and will oversee ICG's operations in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. Prior to joining ICG, Meyer served as Vice President and General Manager of Time Warner Communications, where he directed the company's entry into competitive access and local exchange services.
Saville Systems recently opened a European office in London where Tony Bethell will lead the company's expansion in the European telecommunications market. Bethell brings more than 12 years of high-tech and management experience to Saville. He will help emerging and existing telecommunications service providers win larger market share using Saville's convergent billing platform.
International Telcom announced the appointment of Arnold Candray as Vice President of Affiliate Acquisitions. Candray brings international experience in the call reorganization industry to International Telcom. Prior to this appointment, Candray worked for MTC Master Affiliate overseeing recruiting training and management of overseas agents worldwide.
UniDial Communica-tions announced Mary Beth Regan as Vice President of Human Resources and Adminis-tration. In her new position, Regan will be responsible for developing and implementing corporate strategies in staffing, employee development, compensation and facilities. Regan most recently served as Director of Human Resources for Louisville Gas & Electric Energy Corp.
James F. Guthrie was recently appointed Chief Financial Officer for IXC Communications Inc. Guthrie assumed this position in addition to his current responsibility for strategic planning, legal affairs and human resources. Prior to joining IXC, Guthrie was Vice President and CFO for the Times Mirror Company.
US WATS has placed Gary L. Sugarman on its board of directors. Sugarman is the principal of Richfield Associates Inc., an investment and strategic banking services company. Sugarman also serves as CEO and has an equity interest in Mid-Maine Telecom, a rural local exchange company.
Telegroup Inc. named Ron Jackenthal Vice President of Telegroup Carrier Sales. Jackenthal will be responsible for overseeing Telegroup's carrier sales operations within North America. Previously, he worked for Cable & Wireless Inc. as National Director of Sales.
Brian Branson has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer at BTI. Branson joined BTI in 1992 as a financial analyst and was previously employed by Ernst & Young as an accountant and auditor.
Dr. Avi Vaidya was recently appointed Vice President of Engineering for Charles Industries Inc. Vaidya will be responsible for all engineering efforts at Charles Industries, including product development, engineering services, mechanical engineering and outside plant engineering. Vaidya was previously employed by AT&T for 15 years.
AVIRNEX Communications Group has appointed Robert Sofman as Vice President of Marketing. Prior to joining AVIRNEX, Sofman was Vice President of Marketing and Product Development at Pacific Bell Communications (PBC), where he was responsible for segment-level profit and loss and all aspects of developing consumer and business market strategy at PBC.
Edward Dix was recently named Vice President of Large Account Marketing for LCI International Inc. Dix will oversee LCI's development and execution of marketing programs for large and national account customers. He is also expected to help expand LCI's portfolio of data, network and Internet services. Dix brings more than 17 years of experience to LCI. Most recently, he worked for XLConnect Solutions Inc. managing all aspects of the company's advertising, marketing and public relations programs.
Frontier Chair Passes Away
ROCHESTER, N.Y.--Frontier Corp. announced that Chair and CEO Ronald L. Bittner, 55, passed away on the morning of Sunday, August 31, at his home in Canandaigua, N.Y. Bittner had been undergoing treatment to combat cancer following surgery for a brain tumor in December, 1996.
Bittner had stepped down as CEO of Frontier on August 20 and was succeeded by Joseph Clayton, Frontier's president and COO.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Ron's family," said Clayton. "We will continue to run this business with the same spirit and innovative leadership Ron demonstrated during his 34 years with Frontier."
As CEO, Bittner expanded the company's reach nationwide through a number of strategic acquisitions, the establishment of a cellular supersystem with NYNEX in the state of New York and a merger with ALC/Allnet. His innovative leadership earned Bittner the Bronze Award in Financial World magazine's CEO of the Year competition for both 1994 and 1995.
Bittner joined Frontier in 1963 after graduating from Muhlenberg College. He held a master's degree in business administration from the University of Rochester's Simon School where he also served on the University's board of trustees. His other professional and community affiliations included the Federal Communications Commission Network Reliability Council; the Board of Directors of the United Neighborhood Centers of Greater Rochester Foundation; the Board of Directors of the Louisville Gas and Electric Energy Corp; and the Board of Directors of Dynatech Corp.
IXC Buys Telecom One
AUSTIN, Texas--IXC Communications Inc. has completed its acquisition of Telecom One Inc., a Chicago-based long distance company.
Telecom One will retain its management structure and corporate identity as a wholly owned subsidiary of IXC, offering its customers increased services and bandwidth through IXC's nationwide digital network. IXC will enhance its presence in the long distance market and make its national digital capacity available to new customers.
"This agreement allows us to offer our customers more products and services on increased network bandwidth," said Gordon Hutchins, chair of Telecom One. "Also, IXC's solid support infrastructure further strengthens our ability to compete aggressively in our markets."
GTE Selects Alcatel as Best in Class
CLAREMONT, N.C.--At a recent awards ceremony, representatives from GTE Telephone Operations recognized Alcatel Telecom-munications Cable as Best in Class--Outside Plant Category for the third consecutive year.
(L to R): Jim Wetenkamp, Manager Supply Quality Programs, GTE; John Steen, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Alcatel; Larry Henry, Vice President & General Manager, GTE; CJ Phillips, President, Alcatel; and Bill Furr, National Sales Manager, Alcatel.
Octel, PECO Energy Sign Multi-year Contract
DALLAS--Octel Communications Corp. announced a five-year outsourcing contract with Philadelphia-based PECO Energy Company. Octel Network Services (ONS) will provide PECO Energy with mailbox provisioning, network monitoring, maintenance and system administration for the utility's network of more than 8,000 voice mailboxes.
ONS upgraded PECO Energy's existing voice messaging systems and will transition users to the Octel Overture messaging platform.
Centigram's Series 6 to Support Vitel's VMACS-Plus
SAN JOSE, Calif.--Centigram Communications Corp. and Vitel Software Inc. announced that Centigram's Series 6 platform will now support Vitel's VMACS-Plus software. VMACS-Plus turnkey system management software will be available as a complement to the Series 6 communications platform through Centigram's distributors and resellers.
Comverse Technology, Boston Technology Merge
WOODBURY, N.Y.--Comverse Technology Inc. and Boston Technology Inc. signed a definitive agreement for the merger of Boston Technology with Comverse Technology in a tax-free, stock-for-stock transaction, which will be accounted for as a pooling of interests.
Each share of Boston Technology common stock will be converted into 0.65 of a share of Comverse Technology common stock.
The combined company will be called Comverse Technology Inc. and will continue to be listed on the NASDAQ exchange. The operations of Boston Technology will be combined with Comverse's Network Systems Division.
Kobi Alexander, Comverse Technology's chair, president and CEO, will continue in his present role. Francis E Girard, currently president and CEO of Boston Technology, will become president and CEO of Comverse Network Systems Division. The board of directors of Comverse Technology will be expanded to nine members.
ICG to Acquire Communications Buying Group
ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--ICG Communications Inc. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, ICG Telecom Group Inc., entered into a stock purchase agreement to acquire the outstanding capital stock of Communications Buying Group Inc. (CBG)
CBG is a provider of integrated telecommunications solutions to business customers, and currently provides service to more than 8,000 businesses with 60,000 access lines throughout Ohio. The agreement will allow CBG's current customers, who rely on CBG for local, long distance, 800 and data services, to take advantage of ICG's enhanced telecommunications services.
"CBG is one of the strongest telecommunication providers in Ohio and has established strong relationships with the Ohio business community--relationships upon which ICG intends to build in the coming years," said J. Shelby Bryan, president and CEO of ICG. "CBG's service and distribution strengths, coupled with ICG's fiber optic network in Ohio, create a powerful synergy to challenge the growing number of telecommunications competitors."
Sprint Offers Frame Relay Service Options
KANSAS CITY, Mo.--Sprint announced the availability of multiple classes of service options for frame relay that address the specific business applications needs of local area networks (LANs), systems network architecture (SNA) and voice environments. The new Sprint frame relay classes of service are tailored to meet the needs of business applications, such as inventory control, e-mail, order entry and payroll. Frame relay for LANs is designed for corporations with the need to interconnect LANs or client-server environments that support various business applications. Sprint also offers frame relay for SNA. This service is geared toward mission-critical SNA applications deployed over private-line networks such as credit card transactions, order entry, payroll, tracking and human resources information.
The new frame relay services consist of permanent virtual circuit classes of service, migration support, customer premise equipment, network management tools, service level agreements and other value-added feature options.
U.S. Long Distance Changes Name
SAN ANTONIO--U.S. Long Distance Corp. announced that it will now be doing business as USLD Communications Corp. after receiving stockholder approval for its corporate name change.
"USLD has become a much more competitive, multifaceted company than it was a few years ago," said Larry James, chair and CEO of the company. "Our strong relationships with customers and the financial community have been built on USLD's reputation of providing quality service and producing strong financial results. Keeping USLD as part of our new name allows us to continue building these relationships, while emphasizing our identity as a full-service provider of communications service.
ILD Teleservices Purchases WorldCom Operator Services Business
DALLAS--Intellicall Inc. announced that ILD Teleservices Inc. has completed its purchase of the operator services business and related assets from WorldCom Inc.
"The infrastructure acquired and a strategic long-term relationship with WorldCom will provide ILD with a comprehensive set of service offerings and network solutions for our existing and future customers," said Michael Lewis, chair of the board of directors for ILD.
Intellicall officials said the assets acquired by ILD include operator services and related long distance customer contracts; call centers in San Antonio and Las Vegas; switching facilities in Dallas and Los Angeles; and billing operations in Boca Raton, Fla.
AT&T Purchases Remote Fiber Test Systems
MORGAN HILL, Calif.--AT&T has agreed to purchase Anritsu Wiltron's remote fiber test systems (RFTS). AT&T is using the systems to monitor and ensure the overall transmission performance of all its fiber optic lines. Anritsu Wiltron's RFTS was selected for its ability to locate fiber breaks within one meter and to perform tests without shutting down a network.
The specialized technologies of Anritsu and Wiltron resulted in the RFTS, which provides testing for fiber optic networks without inhibiting user access. The RFTS features multiple alarm thresholds and continuous through-network testing on dark fibers.
Qwest Acquires Final Major Rights-of-Way
DENVER--Qwest Communications International Inc. and Norfolk Southern Railway have agreed to install high-capacity fiber optic cable along Norfolk Southern's rights-of-way between eight Southeastern cities. The agreement marks the last major acquisition of rights-of-way needed to complete construction of Qwest's 13,000-mile fiber optic cable network. Qwest now has 91 percent of the rights of way it needs to finish by the end of next year. Rights to the remaining segments are currently being negotiated.
BellSouth Selects Teltrust as LD Provider
SALT LAKE CITY--Teltrust has been awarded a contract from BellSouth Public Communications Inc. (BSPC) to provide long distance carrier and operator services for BellSouth payphones in the Southeast region of the United States.
BSPC now negotiates and contracts for Teltrust-provided long distance service with BSPC's selected payphone location providers to ensure fair and reasonable rates for calls placed from its payphones. The payphone management capabilities of BSPC combined with Teltrust's live agent and long distance network services allow BSPC to offer single-source provisioning of payphone services to its location provider customers.
ICG, ICC Establish Marketing Agreement
ANNAPOLIS, Md.--Intercontinental Communications Group Inc. and Integrated Communications Corp. (ICC) established a joint marketing agreement for offering operator-assisted and calling card long distance services.
"Intercontinental Communications Group has been selected as ICC's network provider using MCI's nationwide digital long distance facilities, and will provide ICC's customers a cost-effective and quality service for ICC-branded operator services," said ICC president and CEO Tony Turner. Marketing advantages will come from the sharing of network capacity as well as joint development and introduction of new products and support systems.
Omnipoint, Ericsson Sign Equipment and Financing Deal
CEDAR KNOLLS, N.J.--Ericsson and Omnipoint Communications Services Inc. signed an agreement for Ericsson to supply global system for mobile communications (GSM) equipment for Omnipoint's Boston and Miami markets. The new deal falls under the umbrella of the frame agreement previously announced by the two companies.
This five-year exclusive agreement for Boston and Miami includes mobile switching centers, base station controllers and radio base station equipment.
