After more than 18 months and several million dollars in the making, Focal Communications Corp. (www.focal.com) finally put all the pieces together for FocaLINC, an on-net calling plan that is virtually devoid of expensive long distance charges.
With FocaLINC, customers on Focal's local metropolitan networks will be charged discounted local and toll rates when they call other Focal customers. So, for example, if a customer located in the downtown business district calls its suburban branch offices, Focal would charge that customer for a local call, rather than a local toll call. That would result in significant savings, says Robert Taylor, Focal's president and CEO. A FocaLINC long-distance option is also available, which provides discounted on-net long-distance calling rates to customers who make calls between all the cities Focal serves nationwide.
"This product was the direction we were going" from the company's inception, says Taylor. However, he adds, three things had to come together first.
Before FocaLINC could become a reality, Focal needed a significant local presence. The company now offers local service in 14 markets across the United States and plans to add another six by the end of this year.
Then, Taylor notes, the cities had to be interconnected. This was done by leasing transport services from Level 3 Communications Inc. (www.level3.com) and MCI WorldCom Inc. (www.wcom.com)
Finally, Focal needed a billing system that could handle the complexity of the calling plan. "It took a sophisticated back-office system to do this. We built it ourselves because we couldn't get what we wanted from any of the vendors," says Taylor. The billing system--which allows for consolidated billing for multiple locations and is equipped with advanced taxation management software--was finally completed in early February. (Look for more about Focal's homegrown billing system, in X-CHANGE's Feb. 15 billing and customer care special.)
Focal isn't the first CLEC to cut the costs of long distance out of its customers' phone bills. For almost a year, Electric Lightwave Inc. (ELI) (www.eli.net) has been offering its Enhanced Foreign Exchange (EFX) service in cities on its network, which spans the western United States.
Unlike Focal, which relies on its back-office system to orchestrate provisioning and billing, ELI's EFX plan requires customers to purchase local telephone numbers in other cities and states. For instance, a company with headquarters in Phoenix could purchase a local phone number in Tucson that customers and employees in Tucson would call. Those calls would then be routed to the Phoenix office over ELI's network and no long-distance charges would be incurred.
For EFX, customers pay a flat monthly rate for the connection and then all calls to that city are free. ELI estimates customers can save more than 50 percent off their long-distance charges, and is even less expensive than using a toll-free number.
Other companies are considering service plans that will eliminate toll calls in specific geographic regions. e.spire Communications Inc. (www.espire.net) is hoping to offer what it calls "Corridor Calling" in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. market. Calls between the two cities, which are typically long distance, would be rated as local calls if they stay on e.spire's network.
Despite having plans on the table for the last couple of years, e.spire has not launched Corridor Calling because of regulatory issues, according to a company spokesperson.
