Ending months of speculation and negotiation, the boards of directors of the Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel) and the Association for Communications Enterprises (ASCENT) today announced that they have approved the proposed merger of the two trade groups to form the CompTel/ASCENT Alliance. The merger proposal now must be voted on by the membership of both organizations by mid-September.
Pending ratification by the members of both associations, the CompTel/ASCENT Alliance will be effective Sept. 30. The combined organization would have about 500 members; less than 70 were crossover. H. Russell Frisby Jr., president of CompTel, will serve as CEO of the new organization and Walter G. Blackwell, president of ASCENT, will serve as president and COO.
CompTel expects to hold a member meeting Sept. 16. ASCENT’s member meeting will be Sept. 17. Frisby and Blackwell each say they don’t expect any hiccups in securing approvals of the memberships. “Our members have been asking us to do this for years,” Frisby notes.
The CompTel/ASCENT Alliance will be governed by the combined boards of directors until February 2004. The board will be run by co-chairs Richard E. Burk, president and CEO of nii Communications Inc., and Ron Harden, executive vice president of Grande Communications, who served as chairs of CompTel and ASCENT respectively. In February 2004, a 21-member board will be elected, with representatives from small, medium and large companies serving three-year terms. The new board will determine the association’s name and make recommendations for a final dues structure – one of the primary differences between the two groups.
CompTel’s dues structure is based on revenue and ASCENT’s on a uniform flat fee. Frisby notes that while much ado has been made of this difference, some 60 percent of CompTel’s members are smaller carriers paying dues in line with those paid by ASCENT members. Under the merger agreement, members will pay dues required by their respective organizations through 2004. Members of CompTel or a dual member of both CompTel and ASCENT will pay according to the CompTel dues schedule while previous members of ASCENT will pay $3,000, the board-approved rate for 2004.
Blackwell says this approach affords members of both groups a year to see the value of the combination before re-upping under the yet-to-be-determined structure in 2005.
“The pending merger of CompTel and ASCENT is an exciting step forward for the entire competitive telecommunications community,” says Frisby. “We are bringing together two industry stalwarts to create an even stronger entity.” He adds that this is a merger of equals and that it makes sense for the industry, particularly in projecting “one unified voice.” On that front, he says that the group likely will file a petition for reconsideration and join in appeals in connection with the Federal Communications Commission’s order in the Triennial Review of ILEC unbundling requirements.
The CompTel/ASCENT Alliance’s debut event will be the Fall Conference & Networking Center Nov. 17-20 in Dallas. Additionally, CompTel is going forward as planned with its Fall 2003 Conference & Trade Expo Oct. 7-10 in Orlando. Beginning in 2004, the CompTel/ASCENT Alliance will host two conferences/trade expositions each year. The first will be Feb. 8-11, 2004, in Anaheim, Calif., followed by Sept. 11-15, 2004, in Miami. The 2005 trade expositions will be held in Las Vegas and Orlando. The alliance will host several regional events, as well as seminars, workshops, third-party educational sessions, training, and certification courses to increase networking and professional development opportunities for members.
Frisby says the new group will preserve most of both organizations’ programs. For example, ASCENT’s for-profit Business Solutions venture ASCENT Wireless, the wireless resale program launched this summer, will continue.
The alliance expects to consolidate facilities and staff at the CompTel location, as the ASCENT lease is coming up for renewal.
