Xspedius Communications steps up marketing efforts

While Vanion's rise and fall snared most of the attention in the past few months, a local telecommunications provider kept its head above water, and now is ready to launch a marketing effort.

Formerly called e*spire Communications, the company is now called Xspedius Communications. E*spire itself was a telecommunications upstart, in some ways similar to Vanion.

Virginia-based Xspedius Communications acquired e*spire's businesses last August for $68 million - $18 million in cash, the rest in the form of a note secured by assets. It now operates more than 50 telecommunications companies in 24 states. While Vanion didn't survive, the old e*spire, through acquisition, did. It now serves about 200 business clients with voice and Internet services. Among its clients is the Antler's Adams Mark Hotel in downtown Colorado Springs, Embassy Suites, Sisters of S. Francis, KILO Radio, Colorado College, and Genesis Financial Services.

Locally, Xspedius Management Co. is ready to step out. New sales representatives will soon be hitting the street. It is at the point Vanion was last year, when it announced new funding and that it was expanding quickly. Vanion became a big tenant at the Holly Sugar Building downtown; its prominent signs are expected to come down soon.

"We believe we have a great story to tell and we want to get out and tell it," said Paul Bjork, Colorado Springs branch sales manager. "We're going to introduce ourselves to the business community wherever we can, asking for the opportunity to tell our story."

While its customer base is relatively small - 200 to 300 accounts - superior service, an excellent product and a growing sales staff will win it a bigger slice of the market, said Bjork.

One thing setting Xspedius apart from the competition, said Bjork, is that it is one of a few companies to integrate landline telephone and Internet services for the business community. It is also not extravagant in its offices. Bjork's office in the Alamo building is small and cramped, and from what is visible so are the rest of the local digs.

Vanion subscribers constantly complained about not getting a dial tone, and owner Harold Lovelady said the reason customers got such service was partly to blame for a faulty communications switch. Lovelady indicated earlier that he intends to sue the maker of the switch.

Xspedius has the switch Vanion coveted - the proven, and not inexpensive, Lucent Technologies 5E communications switch. Depending on configuration, the switch can cost up to $10 million, and two are desirable in case of a failure. Redundancy is a big thing in the telecommunications industry. The switch is also modular and easily expanded for additional accounts.

Something else Xspedius has going for it, said Bjork, is that it has a 100 percent fiber-optic backbone.

A quality fiber-optic network is also critical to quality service, and Xspedius has more than 3,500 miles of fiber.

"The history of Xspedius comes down to one thing," said Cal Thomas, a spokesman at Xspedius' home office. "Through this growth, we have added more and more services and strategic assets to our portfolio."

As is its company-wide practice, local expansion will be cautious, and slow, and new accounts are the primary area the company plans to grow. Getting new subscribers is going to take work, but Bjork said when the company starts telling its story, word will spread.

For example, said Bjork, when the Sisters of St. Francis in Colorado Springs wanted to add capacity to their telephone system, it consulted with Xspedius. "They had 26 lines, serving 300 people, and one person answering the phone," said Alida Ruiz, senior account representative at Xspedius. "It turns out they only needed 16 lines, and we saved them a bunch of money."

Xspedius is what is called a "Tier One" provider, meaning it is at the top of the food chain in providing telecommunications services. Locally, a company called Great Barrier Reef sells Internet service. The company purchases its Internet pipe from Xspedius. Great Barrier is a "Tier Two" provider.

Bjork said the new sales staff comes on board soon, bringing the local office to 15.

Copyright 2003 Dolan Media Newswires
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