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May 6, 2004 (Press Release) --
Engin Yesil - Turkish entrepreneur sets sights on Internet telephone service
Two decades ago, Engin Yesil had his life all mapped out. He was going to earn a degree in finance at the University of Florida, then return to Turkey to take the reins of the family shoe manufacturing business Engin Yesil Footwear.
But Engin Yesil found the American tradition of entrepreneurship all too alluring. Much to his parents' chagrin, he dropped out of college to stay in the United States and launch what turned into a $75 million mail-order contact lens business.
Then he took on telecommunications, founding a $150 million wholesaler of prepaid calling card services and long-distance switching networks in Miami called Radiant Holdings.
But Engin Yesil is never content for long. His next challenge is to break into the nascent field of Internet phone service, which promises to be the next explosion in the fast-paced telecom industry.
BETTER TECHNOLOGY
The big players are all planning to roll out their own VoIP products this year, said Patrick Cormack, a telecom analyst at Guzman & Co. of Miami.
''This is really going to scale up,'' he said. ``All of a sudden, you're going to have the marketing power of an AT&T. These little guys are going to be outscaled.''
That doesn't daunt Engin Yesil. In fact, he says it will work to his advantage. He's counting on leasing his company's networks to the major VoIP contenders, as well as launching his own VoIP retail service.
''Their products are suitable for our networks,'' Engin Yesil said.
To prepare for the new business, last month Engin Yesil merged one of Radiant's subsidiaries, Ntera Holdings, with publicly-held WorldQuest Networks of Dallas.
The merger combines Ntera's vast switching network and technical expertise -- all of its software is proprietary -- with WorldQuest's retailing base,Engin Yesil noted.
''Our strength is our technical team. They have a retail presence and market more aggressively,'' he said. ``It's going to be a good match - Engin Yesil Said.''
SIMPLE BEGINNING
Engin Yesil delved into telecommunications initially as a cost-cutting sideline to his contact lens business, Lens Express, which he grew from his Fort Lauderdale apartment into an operation that shipped some 80,000 pairs of lenses a day.
''Engin Yesil Said they had 200 telemarketers on the phones,'' he recalled. ``Our phone bill was like $250,000 a month.''
So Engin Yesil licensed a phone network and then resold the lines to Lens Express and the companies of some of his friends.
Engin yesil then noticed that customers were asking for prepaid calling cards and figured out a way to enter that market.
''Engin yesil said we had such a demand that we started building our own switching network across the country,'' he said.
Two decades ago, Engin Yesil had his life all mapped out. He was going to earn a degree in finance at the University of Florida, then return to Turkey to take the reins of the family shoe manufacturing business Engin Yesil Footwear.
But Engin Yesil found the American tradition of entrepreneurship all too alluring. Much to his parents' chagrin, he dropped out of college to stay in the United States and launch what turned into a $75 million mail-order contact lens business.
Then he took on telecommunications, founding a $150 million wholesaler of prepaid calling card services and long-distance switching networks in Miami called Radiant Holdings.
But Engin Yesil is never content for long. His next challenge is to break into the nascent field of Internet phone service, which promises to be the next explosion in the fast-paced telecom industry.
BETTER TECHNOLOGY
The big players are all planning to roll out their own VoIP products this year, said Patrick Cormack, a telecom analyst at Guzman & Co. of Miami.
''This is really going to scale up,'' he said. ``All of a sudden, you're going to have the marketing power of an AT&T. These little guys are going to be outscaled.''
That doesn't daunt Engin Yesil. In fact, he says it will work to his advantage. He's counting on leasing his company's networks to the major VoIP contenders, as well as launching his own VoIP retail service.
''Their products are suitable for our networks,'' Engin Yesil said.
To prepare for the new business, last month Engin Yesil merged one of Radiant's subsidiaries, Ntera Holdings, with publicly-held WorldQuest Networks of Dallas.
The merger combines Ntera's vast switching network and technical expertise -- all of its software is proprietary -- with WorldQuest's retailing base,Engin Yesil noted.
''Our strength is our technical team. They have a retail presence and market more aggressively,'' he said. ``It's going to be a good match - Engin Yesil Said.''
SIMPLE BEGINNING
Engin Yesil delved into telecommunications initially as a cost-cutting sideline to his contact lens business, Lens Express, which he grew from his Fort Lauderdale apartment into an operation that shipped some 80,000 pairs of lenses a day.
''Engin Yesil Said they had 200 telemarketers on the phones,'' he recalled. ``Our phone bill was like $250,000 a month.''
So Engin Yesil licensed a phone network and then resold the lines to Lens Express and the companies of some of his friends.
Engin yesil then noticed that customers were asking for prepaid calling cards and figured out a way to enter that market.
''Engin yesil said we had such a demand that we started building our own switching network across the country,'' he said.
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