Carriers set sights on younger market

Excel Communications last week entered the collect calling market, lauding its new nationwide 1-800-Phone-Me product as convenient, competitive and easy-to-use. Promoting a simple pricing plan and live operator interaction, Excel officials hope the offering will give them a niche in a younger market.

"The opportunity is for Excel to attract the young consumer," said Steve Richards, vice president of consumer marketing. Excel plans to localize the product, he said, bringing in a new and distinct market.

According to Richards, 60% of all collect call users are between the ages of 12 and 34, and 40% of all collect calls are made in the evening. Excel's plan features 9 cents-a-minute charges every evening for all calls within the U.S., plus surcharges that vary from state to state. There are no additional surcharges for pay phone calls, unlike at least one of its competitors. All calls are billed to a customer's regular phone bill.

The new service provides healthy competition and gives consumers a choice in terms of pricing and whom they want to identify with as a brand, said Brenda Kerrick, director of new product deliveries for Excel. The new service comes with brand recognition in the 90% range and provides peace of mind to parents, who know their children can reach them in times of need, she said.

To reach the new younger audience, Excel is developing a "new and exciting approach," which will include live promotions, contests and special events, Kerrick added.

A good advertising plan will be the key to whether Excel survives, said Frank Dzubeck, president of Communications Network Architects. "It's a matter now of advertising," he said. "It's how many hundreds of thousands of dollars they have to spend."

The venture into the collect calling market represents the first joint project to draw from both Excel and Teleglobe Inc., which merged last November.