Posted: 11/1997

People On The Move

ICT Group Inc. appointed Susan Bettenhausen Vice
President of Telecom-munications Industry Services. In this
position, Bettenhausen will be responsible for the strategic
management and business development of all customer care and call
center teleservices applications specialized for the
telecommunications industry.

Andrew Maunder, president and CEO of Axiom
Inc., has been appointed to chair of the company. He succeeds Dr.
Edmund Hough, who resigned from the position in August to pursue
other interest. Maunder has worked for Axiom for three years and
previously held roles as Chief Financial Officer of Oxford
Molecular and Director of Finance and Operations of 3net, Ltd.

Chadd Witham joined Tatung Telecom as
Regional Account Executive for the West Coast. Witham has 15
years of experience in the security industry and most recently
worked as a sales and marketing specialist for Perimeter
Products.

American Telco announced the promotion of Tracy
Gaspard to District Sales Manger for American Telco’s
Houston north office. Gaspard joined American Telco in 1996 with
seven years of experience in sales and marketing.

IXC Communications Inc. announced Benjamin L. Scott
will join the company as President and CEO and also will become a
member of its board of directors. Scott brings 26 years of
telecommunications experience to his new position, having most
recently served as president and CEO of PrimeCo, the personal
communications services joint venture of Bell Atlantic, US WEST
and Airtouch.

IXC also announced Stuart Coppens as Vice
President of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer and Mike
Jones as Vice President of Construction and Facilities
Engineering. Coppens has prior accounting, tax and financial
reporting experience with the Times Mirror Company, where he
worked for 16 years. Jones joins IXC from Diamondback
International Inc., where he gained experience as vice president
of network business development.

Aspect Telecommunications announced three executive
appointments. Robert Blatt was named Vice
President of Marketing and Channel Development. Blatt has been an
Aspect employee since its inception and most recently held the
position of Vice President of Worldwide Products. Kirsten
Berg-Painter, formerly general manger of the Aspect CallCenter
business unit, has been promoted to Vice President of Interactive
Communica-tions Systems. Aspect also promoted Tom McCalmont to
Vice President of Enterprise Computer Telephony Inte-gration.
McClamont previously lead Aspect’s computer telephony integration
programs as general manger.

LHS Group Inc. appointed Vance Shaffer Vice
President of Human Resources. Shaffer will be responsible for
worldwide staffing, benefits, compensation, employee relations
and employee development and training. He previously was vice
president of human resources for National Data Corp. and
personnel manager for Hilti Corp.

Cincinnati Bell Long Distance introduced Carlton Wiles
as the newest member of the company’s staff. He joins the
Alternative Channels as Agent Manager. Wiles was most recently
employed in sales for Telco Communications.

Andrew Shields was named Vice President of
International Carrier Relations. Shields will be responsible for
all international carrier relationships on behalf of RSL COM
companies worldwide. He brings 18 years of communications
management experience to this position.

Powertel Inc. announced the appointment of Paul Stoner
as Vice President of Customer Service for the company’s
Jacksonville, Fla., operations. Stoner served as Powertel’s
commercial sales manager aided in the launch of Powertel’s
personal communications service in Jacksonville, Fla. Powertel
also named Michael Feiock Vice President of
Sales for the company’s Kentucky division and Butch Brock
Vice President of Customer Service at Powertel’s corporate
headquarters.

Feiock joins Powertel from Nextwave Wireless and Brock brings
prior experience from his position as customer service manager
for ALLTEL Mobile.

LCI, IXC Sign Fiber Optic Purchase Agreement

MCLEAN, Va.–IXC Communications Inc. and LCI
International recently announced an agreement for LCI to purchase
a position in a fiber optic cable that will run from Cleveland to
New York City. The new route will be connected to the existing
LCI network and is a critical step toward the company’s
initiative to deploy additional synchronous optical network ring
architecture throughout its nationwide fiber optic network,
according to LCI officials.

EFC Selects Highland Lakes Software

AUSTIN, Texas–Highland Lakes Software Inc.,
a microprocessor-based long distance management and billing
software system supplier, has been selected by East Florida
Communications (EFC) to provide Highland’s software solutions.

The company’s communications accounting system blends local
service, long distance, fax, interactive voice response services
and other telecommunications products into one statement, said
Dennis Killebrew, director of marketing for Highland Lakes.

DBA to Begin Convergent Billing Service

BOERNE, Texas–Direct Billing Alternatives
Inc. (DBA) will make its convergent telecom billing service
available in December. DBA invoices telecom service providers’
end users directly and provides optional automated collection
services.

DBA also is building a national database to provide online
billing and address retrieval services, called the Discover
service. Since the company is not constrained by traditional
local exchange carrier billing limitation, DBA has the
flexibility to bill any telecom service.

Total National Telecom Closes

HOUSTON–Houston-based Total National
Telecommunications Inc. (TNT) has closed its doors for business
and filed to liquidate assets to pay off creditors, according to
an article in the Houston Business Journal.

TNT had originally filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but changed
its petition to a Chapter 7 filing to dissolve the company. TNT’s
parent company, Total World Telecommunications Inc. remains in
business, but Southwestern Telecom, recently acquired by TNT,
closed with the bankrupt company.

LCI to Acquire USLD

MCLEAN, Va.–LCI International announced it
has agreed to acquire USLD Communications Corp., a long distance
telecommunications provider. The transaction expands LCI’s direct
geographic presence and market coverage into the Southwest and
Northwest United States, and adds further customer base in the
West and Southeast. In addition, the acquisition will bring
network synergies where LCI has committed to a fiber network
build, which will interconnect its existing network nationwide.

RFC Signs Two Financing Agreements

COLUMBUS, Ohio–Northwest Communications and
Receivables Funding Corp. (RFC) entered into an asset-purchase
partnership. Using RFC’s off-balance sheet finance program,
Northwest will be able to meet its expansion plans without
incurring debt or diluting shareholder’s equity.

"RFC will propel our business forward by helping us
manage cash flow. They understand the reseller business and offer
flexible solutions, which adapt to the changing
marketplace," said Jim Toma, president of Northwest.

RFC also has signed a financing agreement with Genesis
Communications International Inc., a provider of local and long
distance services. According to Derek Gietzen, president and CEO
of Genesis, RFC’s facility will enable Genesis to enhance its
service coverage and diversify its offerings.

ACC Long Distance, ACC National Telecom Unite

ROCHESTER, N.Y.–ACC Long Distance Corp. and
ACC National Telecom Corp., both wholly owned subsidiaries of ACC
Corp., announced they have combined under the name ACC TeleCom.

"The emergence of ACC TeleCom symbolizes our commitment
to being a flexible, comprehensive provider of integrated
telecommunications services," said Mae Squire-Dow, president
of ACC TeleCom.

LHS Teams With GTE

ATLANTA–LHS Group, a subsidiary of LHS
Communications Inc., has signed an agreement with GTE Data
Services Inc. to add computing and facilities management services
to its billing service bureau offering.

LHS also has launched a lease-to-own plan. Under the plan,
customers can apply a percentage of their LHS service bureau
payments toward a future business support and control system
(BSCS) software license. LHS’ alliance with GTE combines BSCS
with GTE facilities, enabling smaller wireless carriers to use
virtually any wireless technology.

WorldxChange Rolls Out New Agent Program

SAN DIEGO–WorldxChange Communications
recently introduced a dial-around program that allows its agents
to market to residential and commercial customers. Casual access,
also known as dial-around, allows customers to access the
WorldxChange worldwide network by dialing 10629 plus the number
they want to call and an agent identifier code. The program
offers commissions as high as 15 percent with no forms or letters
of agreement to complete, no third-party verification and no
sign-up or monthly usage fees.

Time Warner, ATU to Use Saville’s CBP

BURLINGTON, Mass.–Saville Systems announced
Time Warner will use Saville’s convergent billing platform,
Saville CBP, to bill for Time Warner’s business phone services.

Time Warner will use the convergent billing and customer care
platform to enhance its customer care and service capabilities
and develop new product offerings.

Saville also announced ATU Telecommunications is currently
using Saville’s CBP to create customized products and provide
efficient service to its more than 100,000 customers. Saville’s
CBP enables ATU to adopt new rate pricing strategies for its
local telephone services and streamline internal costs and
processes.

WorldCom Bids $30 Billion for MCI, Acquires
Brooks Fiber

JACKSON, Miss.–WorldCom Inc. recently placed
a bid to buy MCI Communications Corp. for $30 billion, which tops
a deal MCI was on the verge of closing with British
Telecommunications PLC.

Also, WorldCom said the company will merge with Brooks Fiber
Properties Inc. in a $2.9 billion deal. The merger will expand
the number of fiber optic local networks and switching facilities
operated in the United States by WorldCom from 52 to 86.

MDzeroplus Supports Summa Four Platform

MENTOR, Ohio–MDTelecom Inc. announced that
its Windows NT-based MDzeroplus operator services software
supports Summa four’s VCO series of open switching platforms. As
a call center application, MDzeroplus enables telecommunications
service providers to offer operator services with Internet
connectivity, flexible reporting capabilities, real-time rating
and custom prompting. It is fully ANI (automatic number
identification) driven.

STAR to Acquire L.D. Services

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.–STAR
Telecommunications Inc., a wholesale provider of international
long distance services, has signed an agreement to acquire L.D.
Services Inc. of Santa Fe, Calif. With this acquisition, STAR
will enter the retail sector of the commercial long distance
markets.

"L.D. Services brings to the table a revenue base that
increases STAR’s revenue rate by 10 percent, measurable synergies
on the cost side, an experienced management team and systems for
the commercial sector we otherwise would have to build from
scratch," said Christopher Edgecomb, chair of the board and
CEO of STAR.