Huge Telecom repositions

Huge Telecom is in discussions with several alternate telecommunications providers to resell their services to the market.

CEO James Herbst says the company is well placed in the industry as a strong contender in the least-cost routing (LCR) and resale market. “We are not positioning ourselves as a telco,” he adds.

Since the company was formed through the merger of TelePassport and Centracel, it has been considered part of the alternative telecoms market. However, Herbst explains it's not possible to play as both an alternate telecoms operator and an LCR provider.

As an LCR provider, Huge has agreements with all the big names in telecoms and several smaller players, which allows it to resell those products to its 7 000 customers.

The company has spent the last two years consolidating the merger and has installed new leadership over the last few months. Herbst says it is now well on its way to carving its identity in an extremely competitive environment.

Herbst adds that, as an LCR provider, it will be in a more solid position than most, specifically during the country's recession.

“People are all about saving money and many will look at LCR to save on their communication costs,” he explains.

Huge's growth plan also includes a new distribution and channel programme, which is now headed by telecoms veteran Greg Wright. The new division marks the company's shift in focus.

Wright says his role will be to find new distribution areas that can be developed into solid revenue streams for the company. He will talk to several telcos to gain access to both sales capacity and a larger customer base.

Despite a dramatic change over the last 18 months in the telecoms industry, Herbst says it is in a secure position to continue as an LCR provider.

Yesterday's announcement by the Independent Communications Authority of SA, that interconnect rates will be reduced, may not affect the company, since its business model does not require much change, says Herbst.

While the company does not gain from lower interconnect, it says it supports the drive to allow the rates to be lowered, because it will drive competition into the market.