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Hispanics drawing West Coast telecom to N.C.


By Leo John
Triangle Business Journal
Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET Aug. 28, 2005


RALEIGH - Aiming to capitalize on North Carolina's fast-growing Hispanic population, a San Diego phone company that almost exclusively serves Spanish-speaking customers is seeking to launch local and long-distance services in the state.

Vycera Communications, which serves about 50,000 customers, mostly on the West Coast, has filed with state regulators for permission to serve customers in the Triangle, Charlotte and Greensboro.

Vycera Chief Executive Officer Derek Gietzen says the company chose North Carolina because of its rapidly growing Hispanic population.

"As we were looking to expand our geographic footprint ... both North Carolina and Georgia came up from a demographic standpoint," says Gietzen. Florida is the only state on the East Coast where Vycera currently offers service.

Vycera plans to lease phone lines from BellSouth for local phone service and lease cable and switching equipment to offer long distance. Gietzen says Vycera does not expect to hire any employees in North Carolina but will round up a team of contract technicians to connect phones.

He says Vycera's service plans are typically about 10 percent less expensive than those offered by phone carriers such as BellSouth and Verizon.

These plans are tailored specifically to the Hispanic community.

Privately held Vycera employs 300 people, with about 200 based in Mexico. It was founded in 1995 and drew up 2004 sales of just under $30 million.

The latest estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau put the number of people of Hispanic origin in North Carolina at about 518,000 as of July 1, 2004. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, North Carolina had 378,000 Hispanics, comprising 4.8 percent of the state's population. Over a four-year period, the state's Hispanic population saw an increase of about 140,000 people - a growth rate of 37 percent.

But many suspect that even those numbers might be low. Angela Velazquez, president of the North Carolina Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, says a more accurate estimate is nearly 1 million.

Other phone companies are eyeing the growing market. Large carriers such as BellSouth and Verizon have Hispanic marketing programs, and most offer billing and customer service options in Spanish.

Vycera is aiming to get one step ahead of these offerings and attract first- or second-generation Spanish-speaking people who have deep connections in Latin America - and need to call there often.

"Many of our customers are not bilingual," says Gietzen. They speak only Spanish.

Vycera's application to begin service is being considered by the North Carolina Utilities Commission, which has sought clarifications. "I suspect that we will recommend (Vycera's application)," says Nat Carpenter of the Public Staff at the commission.

If approved, Vycera would be the latest of almost 200 companies that now offer phone services in the state. Vycera plans to launch service before the end of the year.