COMPTEL PLUS Gits Along in Dallas

With a record number of exhibitors and attendees, you could say the COMPTEL PLUS Fall 2007 Convention & Expo in Dallas corralled one of the biggest crowds in years, roped in by an ever-better telecom business environment.

COMPTEL reported attendance between 2,300 and 2,400 people, and an increase in the number of fall exhibitors 135 as compared to 120 a year ago. No more singing the telecom blues. Opening night alone resembled the good old days, said Sherm Henderson, president and CEO of Lightyear Network Solutions and COMPTEL chairman. Business is coming back.

Exhibitors said the same. It looks like things are growing again were coming out of the slump, said Rusty Daniels, a sales rep for Iowa Network Services.

GeoResults felt so good about the industrys reversal of fortune that this is the companys second time exhibiting (although this marks its fourth year as a COMPTEL sponsor). Its nice to have everybody together, said Ted Shields, president and CEO for GeoResults.

In addition to making deals, COMPTEL members also elected a new board. Lightyears Henderson remains chairman, voted into the position for the third consecutive term. Notably, companies Zayo Bandwidth, Hypercube LLC, i3 Networks, CoStreet Communications and Starvox Communications Inc. all are serving on the board for the first time.

COMPTEL also made regulatory goings-on a top priority. Interim CEO Jerry James even introduced a new consultancy, The Fritts Group, which COMPTEL has hired to help it spread the message of competition. One of the first initiatives was takeover of the Web site www.freetocompete.org, which was launched by Vonage in the spring. James said COMPTEL is working to get the public involved in the competitive fight.