Leaders Of Competitive Telecom Companies Reveal Business Plans, Strategies For The Future

In the Driver’s Seat at the Top ICPs
New TRI Book Delivers Insight, Vision From the Top

(Washington, D.C., January 10, 2000) – Over the past year, competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) have broadened their service lineups and business territories to evolve into integrated communication providers (ICPs), giving traditional carriers a run for their money and forever altering the face of the telecommunications landscape. At the helm of these fast-growing companies is a group of dynamic, innovative leaders, who share their experiences and plans for the future in In the Driver’s Seat at the Top ICPs, a new book from Telecommunications Reports International (TRI), the nation’s most respected publisher of telecommunications information.

Containing thirty-nine of in-depth interviews with presidents, chairmen, CEOs, COOs and other senior management of some of the competitive telecom industry's most exciting companies, In the Driver’s Seat at the Top ICPs gives readers an inside track on these businesses – where they’ve been, where they’re going and how they intend to get there – straight from the executives who are charting the course.

"Because many ICPs are young, emerging companies, their success is very much tied to the personal ability, vision and tenacity of their senior executives," said Victoria Mason, editor of TRI’s flagship Telecommunications Reports, the journal of record for the telecommunications industry. "The same is true at some of the larger, more established telecom companies, where a handful of visionaries are transforming their businesses into more dynamic competitors targeting brand-new markets." Rather than just reporting on these individuals or presenting financial data on their companies, In the Driver’s Seat at the Top ICPs provides a unique, candid snapshot of these leaders’ thoughts in their own words.

Among the leaders profiled are senior executives from Access One, Allegiance, Birch, Connectiv, e.spire, Florida Digital Network, ICG, McLeodUSA, MediaOne, Metromedia, Rhythms NetConnections, Sprint, Time Warner Telecom, US LEC and dozens more.

In on-the-record interviews, the executives share their unique business plans and growth strategies, marketplace frustrations and opportunities, venture capital plans, opinions on emerging technologies and vision of the competitive telecom industry’s future. Wall Street's analysis of the industry's shifting market shares also is included.

The following provides a sampling of what today’s telecom leaders are talking about.

On company growth strategies:

Janice Peters, president and CEO of MediaOne: "Our growth mainly is being fueled by new products, and then that will be followed closely by going heavier into segments like the business market. Our first priority is rolling out new products to our existing segments, residential primarily."

On what differentiates one company from another:

Tim Price, president and CEO of MCI WorldCom Communications: "What distinguishes the MCI WorldCom plan is to local-to-global-to-local integration. We're the largest CLEC in the country and have the robust backbone to take local traffic and deliver it not only globally, but also intelligently, so we can combine services not just for the first 10 miles but around the world."

On raising money:

Steve Gray, president and COO of McLeodUSA: "I think it's about $250 billion in capital that we're going to need to ‘rebuild' or overbuild America. That's just the access line component, not the intercity component or necessarily the operating expense that one's going to incur in distributing, implementing, and servicing a product. So for the foreseeable future, we and a lot of folks are going to need continued access to the capital markets."

Current business challenges:

John Kane, president and COO of ICG Communications: "This whole ‘integrated service provider' thing is a wonderful concept, but delivering that level of integration capability – the billing system, the infrastructure, the customer service – is much more complex than anybody would like you to believe."

On telecom industry mergers, acquisitions and consolidation:

Bob Taylor, president and CEO of Focal Communications: "[Industry consolidation] means more opportunities. As consolidation occurs, a lot of confusion also occurs. We've been able to step up and provide better service to our customers because their other providers haven't been able to make it through the consolidation process."

On the industry's future:

Jim Otterbeck, chairman and CEO of OnePoint Communications: "We really believe that high-speed data access to an apartment dweller, given the demographic mix, the age mix, etc., is going to be just like swimming pools were in the '70s and workout rooms were in the '80s. It's going to almost be a required amenity. By being there and having that required amenity, we're really going to be able to change the industry."

Availability and Pricing

For more information or to order In the Driver’s Seat at the Top ICPs, call 800-822-6388. The 271page book is available for $279, plus tax and handling.

About TRI

Telecommunications Reports International is the oldest and most respected provider of communications industry information services. Since 1934, executives and policy-makers have relied on TRI’s comprehensive coverage and analysis of major issues and events in the multibillion-dollar communications business. TRI, a unit of CCH INCORPORATED, offers newsletters, online news services, and industry reports as part of CCH's Business and Finance Group. The TRI web site can be accessed at www.tr.com.

About CCH INCORPORATED

CCH INCORPORATED, headquartered in Riverwoods, Ill., was founded in 1913 and has served four generations of business professionals and their clients. The company produces more than 700 electronic and print products for the tax, legal, securities, human resources, health care and small business markets. CCH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer U.S. The CCH web site can be accessed at www.cch.com.

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