Company description::
Posted on Mon, Apr. 12, 2004
LOOKING AHEAD: Engin Yesil, CEO of Ntera Holdings, isjazzed about the potential of VoIP (voice over Internet protocol). 'This is where the world is going,' he says. 'We're definately on the right track.' RONNA GRADUS/HERALD STAFF | More photos...
R E L A T E D L I N K S
• NTERA HOLDINGS
SUNSHINE INDUSTRIES | TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Turkish entrepreneur sets sights on Internet telephone service
BY CHRISTINA HOAG
choag@herald.com
Two decades ago, Engin Yesil had his life all mapped out. He was going to earn a degree in finance at the University of Florida, then return to Turkey to take the reins of the family shoe manufacturing business Yesil Footwear.
But Yesil found the American tradition of entrepreneurship all too alluring. Much to his parents' chagrin, he dropped out of college to stay in the United States and launch what turned into a $75 million mail-order contact lens business.
Then he took on telecommunications, founding a $150 million wholesaler of prepaid calling card services and long-distance switching networks in Miami called Radiant Holdings.
Along the way, the 41 year-old entrepreneur managed to soothe his parents' qualms. ''They're happy now,'' he said. ``They come and visit me.''
But Yesil is never content for long. His next challenge is to break into the nascent field of Internet phone service, which promises to be the next explosion in the fast-paced telecom industry.
''This is where the world is going,'' he said, clearly jazzed about the potential of VoIP (voice over Internet protocol). ``We're definitely on the right track.''
But it's a track that promises to be crowded.
BETTER TECHNOLOGY
Until recently, phone service delivered through a broadband Internet hookup has been largely a toy for techies and a niche market for small start-ups.
But as improved technology turned the tinny, buzzy Internet calls as clear as land-line connections, telecom giants such as AT&T, Verizon, Qwest and SBC Communications have pricked up their ears. The big advantage to VoIP is cost; it's much cheaper than a traditional land line because it doesn't need a dedicated connection.
The big players are all planning to roll out their own VoIP products this year, said Patrick Cormack, a telecom analyst at Guzman & Co. of Miami.
''This is really going to scale up,'' he said. ``All of a sudden, you're going to have the marketing power of an AT&T. These little guys are going to be outscaled.''
That doesn't daunt Yesil. In fact, he says it will work to his advantage. He's counting on leasing his company's networks to the major VoIP contenders, as well as launching his own VoIP retail service.
''Their products are suitable for our networks,'' he said.
To prepare for the new business, last month Yesil merged one of Radiant's subsidiaries, Ntera Holdings, with publicly-held WorldQuest Networks of Dallas.
WorldQuest, which posted $9.9 million in revenue in 2003, sells prepaid phone cards that use VoIP technology, Internet money transfer services and a prepaid Visa store card.
The merger combines Ntera's vast switching network and technical expertise -- all of its software is proprietary -- with WorldQuest's retailing base, Yesil noted.
''Our strength is our technical team. They have a retail presence and market more aggressively,'' he said. ``It's going to be a good match.''
WORLDQUEST INTEREST
WorldQuest is particularly excited about the business opportunities that Ntera's technical capabilities offer, said Victor E. Grijalva, the company's chief financial officer who will be moving to Miami when the merger is sealed.
''We think Ntera has the premier VoIP network in the country,'' he said. ``We're gaining access to technical platforms to roll out a number of products and services.''
First on the agenda for the new company, which has taken on the Ntera name, is the launch of Internet phone service for residential/small business customers within 60 days, Yesil said.
The service, which will be touted in a national advertising and marketing campaign, will range from $12.95 to $44.95 a month.
The company will also be seeking corporate customers for its VoIP lines.
SIMPLE BEGINNING
Yesil delved into telecommunications initially as a cost-cutting sideline to his contact lens business, Lens Express, which he grew from his Fort Lauderdale apartment into an operation that shipped some 80,000 pairs of lenses a day.
''We had 200 telemarketers on the phones,'' he recalled. ``Our phone bill was like $250,000 a month.''
So Yesil licensed a phone network and then resold the lines to Lens Express and the companies of some of his friends.
He then noticed that customers were asking for prepaid calling cards and figured out a way to enter that market.
''We had such a demand that we started building our own switching network across the country,'' he said.
In 1996, he sold Lens Express for $40 million.
The next year he formed Radiant as a telecommunications provider. By 2001, the company was selling $172 million worth of calling-card services to private-label retailers and phone companies. The company's 79 North American switching stations currently handle some 850 million minutes of phone card traffic a month.
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