Channel Partners

October 1, 1997

13 Min Read
People on the Move

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.

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