Published February 2001

SBC Telecom sees county
as ‘market ready for competition’

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

Advanced TelCom Group Inc. isn’t the only new telecommunications competitor in town.

Since early fall, SBC Telecom Inc., a part of SBC Communications Inc., has been offering Snohomish County residents and businesses local and long-distance phone service as well as dial-up and high-speed Internet options.

The telecom company’s entrance into the market is part of a campaign to enter 30 of the largest markets outside of SBC Communications’ incumbent service area, which covers 13 Midwestern and Southwestern states, spokesman John O’Connor said.

According to SBC Communications’ Web site, “this is the first time a former Bell operating company will compete for business and residential local phone customers on a national scale.”

In the Puget Sound region, SBC Telecom invested millions of dollars in a switching control center, located in Seattle, and related equipment, O’Connor said. For long-distance and data services, SBC Telecom has tapped into partner Williams Communications’ network.

After kicking off its campaign in October, SBC Telecom already is operating in Miami, Boston, New York City and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., as well as the Puget Sound region, O’Connor said, adding that more markets will be active early this year.

“By the end of this quarter, we’ll be in several (new) markets, including Washington, D.C., and Baltimore,” he said.

Locally, “there’s a definite need for competition,” said Michael Scott, Regional Vice President of External Affairs at SBC Telecom’s Bellevue office. “The folks we’ve talked with say, ‘We’re glad you’re in town and can compete with incumbents.’ ” “We can compete with incumbents because we are one,” O’Connor said of SBC Communications. “We offer reliability, credibility and resources.”

“As a whole, (our business) has done very, very well,” Scott said. “We’ve been very pleased and excited with our entrance into the market. We thought this would be a market ready for competition.”

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