Dick Jalkut

THEN: Dick Jalkut was the head of network for New England Telephone, which was a  $5 billion company based in Boston and with 20,000 employees. The big news in 1987 was the seven RBOCs trying to diversify their businesses, most of which failed, he says. Also wireless was just beginning to become user friendly but was still tethered to the car. CLECs did not exist. CAPs were the primary competitors. NOW: Today, Jalkut is president and CEO of TelePacific Communications, a west coast CLEC with 1,200 employees and more than $400 million in annual revenue. In 2007, we will continue to see industry consolidation, says Jalkut, noting the companys own string of mergers and acquisitions, which include ATG, Pac-Wests CLEC holding, ICG, Mpower and Arrival. TelePacific will acquire and integrate Arrival by second quarter 2007. We will then be a company approaching 1 million access lines, he adds.