TRA’s Fall Conference

Posted: 01/1998

TRA’s Fall Conference
Attendance Sets Record

WASHINGTON–Breaking the previous record set at the Spring Conference in San Antonio,
more than 2,000 people attended the Telecommunications Resellers Association’s (TRA’s)
Fall Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Fla., Nov. 3-6, 1997.

"The increasing number of telecom executives attending TRA’s conferences are a
testament to the ever-growing importance of resale in all facets of the telecommunications
industry," said Ernest B. Kelly, TRA president. The conference opened with a video
and a celebration to mark the organization’s fifth anniversary–and to announce the merger
with the National Wireless Resellers Association. Don Shula, former head coach of the
Miami Dolphins, delivered the keynote address, providing advice on how to use strategies
he employed successfully on the playing field to achieve success in the business world.

The general session focused on such issues as utilities entering telecommunications,
the Internet and a report from state commissioners on local and long distance regulation
in the states. Afternoon breakout sessions included presentations on tariffs, regulatory
activities, electronic billing, prepaid taxation and local resale. A special wireless
resale workshop also was presented by TRA.

TRA’s councils on wireless, prepaid services, international and local resale all held
open meetings to discuss council activities and developments in each council’s respective
area. Evening receptions were sponsored by IXC, Sprint and Siemens Telecom Networks, while
AT&T treated attendees to a theme party at Universal Studios. Other corporate sponsors
included ACSI, AT&T Bill Manager, Bell Atlantic, Cable & Wireless/T-Net,
Centillion Data Systems, Frontier Communications, LCI International, MCI, Nortel, OAN
Service, PHONE+ magazine, Profitec, Qwest Communications, TelSave, Telegroup, USDi,
UniDial, U.S. Long Distance and VarTec Telecom.

Bell Atlantic Seeks
Long Distance in New York

NEW YORK–Bell Atlantic recently submitted a filing with the New York Public Service
Commission (NYPSC) to offer long distance service to New York customers.

"Anyone who claims that the local phone market (in New York) isn’t open or that
there isn’t competition is ignoring the facts," said James Cullen, president and CEO
of Bell Atlantic’s Telecom Group. "The local telephone market is open. Competition
exists. We should be allowed to begin selling long distance service."

In its filing, Bell Atlantic asked the NYPSC to endorse the company’s application to
offer long distance service in New York and to confirm that the company has met the
competitive checklist outlined by federal law. The NYPSC requested a two-month review
period before Bell Atlantic applies to the Federal Communications Commission for approval.

Report Addresses Reseller Issues

BOSTON–A recently released report from the Yankee Group reveals that resellers and
alternative providers of communications services are rapidly gaining share in the consumer
portion of the long distance market. Specifically, these providers have more than doubled,
from 7.1 percent in 1988 to 17.8 percent in 1997.

The report, called The Resellers: Soldiers of Fortune, outlines the opportunities
available in the consumer segment of the communications markets, which was worth $35
billion in consumer long distance alone in 1996.

According to Amanda McCarthy, an analyst with the Yankee Group, and co-author of the
report, "Resellers can leverage their ability to narrowly define market segments and
deploy marketing strategies that can effectively penetrate lucrative niches below the
radar of the largest interexchange carriers."

ACC Demonstrates Growth in University Program

ROCHESTER, N.Y.–ACC Corp. announced growth in its global university program, having
signed multiyear agreements to provide telecommunications services to students, faculty
and administration at 30 new universities worldwide. Additionally, ACC extended contracts
with 47 other existing university customers.

With the addition of these contracts, ACC subsidiaries now provide telecommunications
services to more than 180 academic institutions for long distance and local services.
Having secured a market of more than 1 million full-time students, faculty and
administration, ACC reaps about 15 percent of its consolidated annualized revenue from
campus telecommunications.

NaSPA, Millennium Group Form Partnership

MILWAUKEE–The Network and Systems Professionals Association (NaSPA) and the Millennium
Group have formed a telecommunications partnership. The union will enable the NaSPA, an
independent, non-profit professional association for computing technicians and managers in
business computing environments, to provide its members with the opportunity to purchase
long distance, local service, digital, data and other telecommunications services as a
group.

CTC Offers Discounts to NCAE

CONCORD, N.C.–CTC Long Distance Services, a subsidiary of CT Communications Inc., has
been selected by the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) to offer the
association’s 70,000 members a special program of discounted long distance rates.

The program being offered to association members includes discounted member rates for
calls at any time to anywhere in the continental United States. There are no sign-up fees,
monthly subscription fees or minimum monthly usage requirements.

New Mascot for Elcotel

ATLANTA–At the recent American Public Communications Council East Conference in
Atlanta, Elcotel Inc. unveiled Telley, its newest addition to the Elcotel team.

Quest Questus, marketing and communications manager for Elcotel, created Telley to
promote the company at trade shows and in special campaigns. "I was looking for a
company ambassador on the lighter side, someone who could be recognized a mile away,"
said Questus.

Bell Atlantic Looks to Next Generation Internet

ARLINGTON, Va.–Bell Atlantic and the State of West Virginia announced they will build
a $20 million network linking government agencies, colleges and universities, schools and
not-for-profit health care providers. Called West Virginia 2001, the network will employ
Bell Atlantic’s asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cell relay service to consolidate voice,
data and video on single phone lines at high speeds.

Bell Atlantic has continued experiments with transmission and switching technologies
applicable to Internet activity, with a number of high-speed intracampus network
applications now being tested.

MMTA Elects Chair

ARLINGTON, Va.–Vice President and General Manager of Ingram Micro’s Telecom
Integration Division, Laura Skinner, has been elected to chair the board of directors of
the voice/multimedia division of the MultiMedia Telecommunications Association (MMTA). As
the division’s chair, Skinner will continue to serve on the association’s board of
governors as well as become a member of its executive committee.

"Next year the voice/multimedia division will focus on programs that add value to
the distribution channel by continuing to promote and improve MMTA’s new certification
program, to actively engage federal regulatory issues affecting the convergence of
communications and computing applications, and to examine future directions of the
technology," said Skinner.

IXC Offers Toll-Free Service from Mexico

AUSTIN, Texas–IXC Communications Inc. announced it is offering toll-free telephone
service from Mexico for its long distance resellers in the United States.

IXC customers can resell the Mexican toll-free service for a variety of applications
including intra-company communications, branch sales operations, hospitality environments,
hospitals, universities, conventions and personal 800 service. Hotels or other high-volume
facilities can program telephone switching equipment in Mexico to dial a U.S. operator for
customized calling and billing services using IXC’s toll-free service to reach the
operator. Businesses with offices in the United States and Mexico can offer toll-free
telephone access to U.S. operations from a Mexico-based office.

DoJ OKs Account Information Tracking

WASHINGTON–The Department of Justice (DoJ) approved a proposal by the National
Consumer Telecommunications Data Exchange Inc. (NCTDE) and its member long distance
telecommunications carriers to exchange information about consumers who have failed to
make payments on residential accounts.

The proposed information exchange is designed to reduce the amount of uncollectible
debt owed to long distance carriers on residential accounts. Under the program, member
carriers will be required to inform a third party–a vendor hired by NCTDE–of the
identity of any closed residential account with an undisputed and unpaid balance in excess
of a specific amount, as yet undetermined. All members would be able to question the
third-party vendor to verify whether an applicant for new long distance service had failed
to pay a long distance bill to a prior long distance carrier. Neither the carrier sending
the information nor the carrier receiving it from the third party would know the identity
of the other carrier.