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TelCoveFounded in 1991, TelCove is a leading provider of business critical telecommunications services, offering enterprises and carriers superior Internet, data, and voice solutions via its metropolitan and intercity fiber optic network. TelCove’s vast, interconnected and fully redundant SONET-based network consists of over 22,000 route miles of local and long haul fiber, providing customers in healthcare, higher education, government, banking/financial services, and other verticals with an unsurpassed infrastructure to transport their communications. TelCove currently operates in 70 markets throughout the eastern United States, serving over 14,000 customers who value its network as a key differentiator and view TelCove’s telecom services as superior to the commodity-based offerings of competitors.
Business ChallengeOriginally founded as Hyperion, TelCove became a key player in the post Telecommunications Act deregulation era of the 1990’s.
The company went public in 1998 as Adelphia Business Solutions (ABS) and initially flourished, but aggressive expansion, mixed with the sudden telecommunications industry downturn forced the company into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by 2002.
Since then, the company has undertaken a remarkable turnaround. Re-launched by CEO Bob Guth as TelCove, the newly independent company was able to exit bankruptcy in 2004, casting aside its Adelphia ties. TelCove did so by building on its assets and heritage as a competitive access provider, by developing technologically-advanced services and by improving its independently-owned fiber optic network to meet the evolving needs of its customers.
In late 2004, TelCove turned to Schwartz Communications to jointly elevate the company’s image as a successful, independent company and create national awareness of its network, customers and portfolio of services. This was a critical mandate as TelCove was poised to significantly expand its footprint in 2005 and launch a series of high-profile, “next-generation” communications service offerings like VoIP, Ethernet and Business Continuity solutions.
Schwartz PR Strategy- Aggressively publicize all tier-one service launches, significant customer wins and major corporate initiatives, including the acquisition of new markets and network assets.
- Target networking, IT, telecommunications, business and vertical press to encourage stories portraying TelCove as a leader and innovator in
- business-critical Internet, data and voice solutions for enterprises and carriers.
- Generate feature profiles, executive Q&A's and execute thought leadership campaigns positioning TelCove's CEO as a visionary entrepreneur who took the company out of Chapter 11 to profitability and built one of the largest independently-owned metro and intercity fiber optic networks in the country.
- Place customer case studies and product news demonstrating TelCove's expertise in enabling essential communications solutions in select strategic verticals targeted to potential customers.
- Support TelCove’s sales initiatives with quarterly regional PR campaigns.
- Highlight TelCove’s unique asset of being the largest independently-owned metro and intercity fiber optic network in the Eastern United States.
- Announce major customer wins to show company market momentum and to differentiate TelCove’s services from those of local CLEC’s or service-only providers.
- Build momentum with key analysts (Gartner, IDC, vertical analysts).
- Raise TelCove’s profile at significant industry events and support membership in industry groups (such as CompTel and regional Chambers of Commerce).
Results- Drastic increase in media coverage: 250+ articles generated by the PR program in 2005 (more than double the amount of clips for 2004).
- Quality of coverage increased too, with stand-alone features, customer case studies and “turnaround” stories becoming more prevalent. Tone of Schwartz-generated coverage was almost universally positive, with few mentions of TelCove’s past connection to Adelphia. Sample headlines:
- “TelCove Builds Seaboard Presence: Expands Network, Adds New Services;”
- “High in Fiber: TelCove Lights up the East”
The overall message from these corporate profiles: TelCove has emerged as one of the dominant telecommunications services providers in the eastern half of the United States. - Successfully publicized TelCove’s acquisition of 21 markets from KMC Telecom. Schwartz then launched awareness campaigns in these new markets, yielding coverage and bylines in key newspapers and business journals in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia and Tennessee as well as national business press.
- Successfully publicized 5 tier-one service launches, including VoIP Service for Enterprises (August 2005), On-Net Business Continuity Services (September 2005) and 10-Gigabit Ethernet Service (October 2005). Launches were supporting by one-on-one briefings, resulting in surround-sound coverage in Network World, Byte & Switch, Pittsburgh Business Times, Internet Telephony, eWeek, XCHANGE, Phone +, Telecommunications, and many others.
- For each tier-one service launch, Schwartz expanded media outreach to vertical publications specific to the service. For example New Telephony and VoIP Business Weekly for VoIP, Disaster Recovery Journal, InfoStor and Storage Magazine for the Business Continuity suite of offerings, etc.
- Supported TelCove with an aggressive schedule of media and analyst briefings at key industry trade shows, including CompTel, Supercomm, and various shows sponsored by Light Reading. The agency also drafted and submitted abstracts to secure executive speaking engagements.
- Secured 34 briefings with 10 analyst groups, building relationships, creating top-of-mind awareness and fostering coverage with influencers at IDC, Forrester, Yankee Group, Frost & Sullivan, Gartner, Heavy Reading and many others.
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