Clearing the flat-rate bottleneck: Cybertel to use TeleFreedom marketing

Aiming to inflate its customer base by 50,000 users per month, Cybertel Communications last week tagged telecommunications marketing organization TeleFreedom USA to sell Cybertel's flat-rate long-distance service to businesses and residential customers.

"In the next 12 months, we expect our customer base to exceed 1 million customers," said Richard Mangiarelli, president and CEO of Cybertel.

Cybertel's decision to use Tele-Freedom was based on the track record of Tom Norfleet, president of the marketing organization.

"Norfleet worked for a group that brought more than 2 million customers to the original Sprint. He also served as a consultant at Excel Communications, contributing to that company's growth from a small regional carrier to an international carrier with more than six million customers in 1996," said Mangiarelli. Using TeleFreedom will give CyberTel a huge lead in the market, making it resistant to other long-distance companies, he added.

"TeleFreedom will have 5000 sales agents working for Cybertel by the beginning of next year, and by this time next year, we'll have as many as 50,000 agents," Norfleet said.

Through its agreements with companies such as Level 3 Communications and Bell Atlantic, which provide access to their IP networks, Cybertel can offer unlimited long-distance service for $30 or $60 per month, depending on the service package. Small businesses with multiple lines can purchase an unlimited long-distance plan for $120 per month.

Initially, Cybertel's service will debut in 35 metro areas, but within a few months, the service is expected to be available to every major market in North America.

"Marketing has been our only real bottleneck," Mangiarelli said. "Our alliance with TeleFreedom eliminates that bottleneck and enables us to move forward at full speed."