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Y-Tel
International has a jump on the competition with their proprietary software
and backroom platform to enable people to make long distance phone calls
through Wi-Fi to any phone number in the world
Telecommunications
Connectivity
(YTLI-OTC: BB)
Y-Tel International Inc.
1100 NW 163 Dr
Miami, FL 33169
Phone: 818-905-5438
Steve Lipman
President
Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor
CEOCFOinterviews.com
February 24, 2005
BIO:
Steve B
Lipman - President/CEO
Mr. Lipman is a senior executive experienced in mergers and acquisitions,
strategic planning, operations, sales and marketing. He has structured 6
companies and taken 3 companies public, raised millions of dollars and
secured major buying contracts.
2000
– Present: Mr Lipman was the CEO/Director for Market Force, Inc. A finance,
marketing and consulting company, established to advance growing companies
to new levels of productivity.
Through public offerings and
reverse mergers, the company supports growth stage companies with market
awareness and provides assistance with securing financial relationships for
private and public companies while creating specialized marketing plans.
1997-2000: Mr Lipman was
the President of Carrousell, Inc. A $20 million airport advertising company
with patents for displaying corporate ads on airport baggage carousels
worldwide.
1995-1997: Mr. Lipman
served as President and Chairman of Satellite Control Tech, Inc. An $80
million wireless technology company specializing in GPS/Cellular and paging
for vehicle monitoring, tracking and recovery.
1992-1995 Mr. Lipman was the President of Allied Voice Tech, Inc. A $20
million Re-recordable microchip company responsible for developing,
manufacturing re-recordable products.
Company Profile:
Y-Tel is in the international telecommunications industry. Principal offices
are located at 1100 N.W. 163 Dr., Miami, Florida, 33169 with Switching HUBS
in Miami, Florida and Panama City, Panama. During the development stage,
Y-Tel completed installation of two International Gateway switches, capable
of handling multiple international carriers.
The Company is now engaged, under contract with Digicel, one of the fastest
growing GSM Cellular Providers in the world, to help facilitate their
expansion. The contract has enabled Y-Tel to generate revenue from
terminating voice traffic originating throughout the Caribbean Islands.
Y-Tel is also targeting markets in the rapidly developing Central and South
America region. This area has been selected because it encompasses one of
the fastest growing, underserved regions among the emerging
telecommunications markets.
CEOCFOinterviews: Mr. Lipman, there have been changes at Y-Tel
recently; will you give us a little background and the vision for Y-Tel?
Mr. Lipman: “Y-Tel is a telecommunications
company that has been in the wholesale minutes business. We have a contract
with Digicel, which is one of the largest GSM (Global Systems for Mobile
communication) cellular providers in the Caribbean. They are a
billion-dollar company that has been running a lot of their GSM cellular
minutes through the Y-Tel Network. In Miami, Y-Tel has several million
dollars worth of equipment that they own. Digicel runs approximately five
million minutes a month through our network, going in and out of the United
States and Jamaica. They are looking to increase those minutes and we are
working with them closely as they are running more and more minutes as we go
along. We have a NORTEL DMS 250/300 Switch sitting down there. We also have
a lot of equipment not only of ours but of Digicel’s sitting in Florida at
this point.
We are doing over a million dollars a year in wholesale business at a nice
profit level. On top of that, we just signed a contract, which has been
announced under YTLI, our symbol; with EBI, which is a partner with
Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ). We now are 50/50 partners in distribution for
Wi-Fi phones worldwide. Wi-Fi phone allows us to walk around; it is much
different than VOIP (Voice Over IP). VOIP is a landline and is a hard line
connection to a computer, talking to another computer and hard line. So
Wi-Fi is the next generation. The next generation being, that you can walk
around with a Wi-Fi phone in your hand in any one of 40,000 hot spots around
the world or hot spots that you created within your house by putting in
Wi-Fi router. You can walk around and call anywhere in the world while
talking on that Wi-Fi phone and any phone number whether it is a regular
landline phone or a cell phone number anywhere in the world from our Wi-Fi
phone.
You can call from the U.S., outside of the U.S., to anywhere using our
gateway in Miami or you can call anywhere outside the U.S., back to the
U.S., using our gateway. The average cost of a phone card now on
international calling can run as low as 15-20 cents a minute. At this point,
and in the future, you will be able to get off the plane in let’s say Hong
Kong, you will be able to grab one of our phones, take it to your hotel room
and from there plug the broadband connection from the hotel room into the
charging face of the phone, and you will be able to sit in the room and call
back to the U.S. and for 15 cents a minute, you can stay on the phone as
long as you want. Normally, calls can run from one to three dollars a minute
from any hotel room in the world. Our market is international travelers and
the travel agencies and rental car agencies have already shown tremendous
interest in moving forward with the phones. They look at the phones as the
next generation.”
CEOCFOinterviews: You have an exclusive worldwide distribution
agreement; is there anyone else in that space and how do you fit into the
overall picture?
Mr. Lipman: “There are other people out there.
I cannot say that we are the only ones out there because I don’t know that
to be true. I know that right now only three percent of the population
understands Wi-Fi and has Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi to date has simply been for
high-speed broadband computers. Now tied to EBI, which puts millions of
dollars into a back office and billing platform that can handle thousands of
customers at one time now, we have one of the most unique systems and one of
the finest systems out there. To be able to make a long distance phone call
through Wi-Fi to any phone number in the world, there are not many companies
that can do that.”
CEOCFOinterviews: Is it the infrastructure, which you already have
in-place, enabling you to do this?
Mr. Lipman: “It is the infrastructure and the
software because every fault out there has our software. Our software is
exclusively for us and it goes into our billing network and platform.”
CEOCFOinterviews: So your capital expenditures are limited?
Mr. Lipman: “Yes, everything is in-place and a
lot of distribution now being set up worldwide. We have people wanting to
hand out the phones for a cost and some just wanting to hand them out free
to help save their travelers and customers a lot of money like some of the
rental car agencies.”
CEOCFOinterviews: Can you protect the technology you have?
Mr. Lipman: “We have software we developed that
is proprietary. We have a jump on anybody else getting into this space in a
big way because we already have our backroom and filling platform done.”
CEOCFOinterviews: Is there much maintenance required for the
infrastructure and are there changes in phone technology, of which you need
to be mindful?
Mr. Lipman: “Next year they are probably coming
out with a Wi-Max phone, which we are all waiting for. We will be converting
all of our Wi-Fi phones and networks into Wi-Max. That will allow us more
distance and we will probably eventually take over for the cellular phone
industry. Wi-Max is where everybody wants to be. With true Wi-Max as well as
Wi-Fi, you will be able to watch a video on your phone and watch video
conferencing as well as be able to move forward as far as going ahead and
doing all your emails, high-speed internet from your phone instead of the
computer and that is where the world is going.”
CEOCFOinterviews: Are you going to be going further into the South
American region?
Mr. Lipman: “Absolutely! We are heading there
now.”
CEOCFOinterviews: Everything is Wi-Fi now?
Mr. Lipman: “Wi-Fi is the latest and the
greatest because you can go right into the internet. It is a handheld phone
you can walk around with and go right into the internet, which can travel to
anywhere in the world and allows us to come out after our billing network
and after our platform on our gateway."
CEOCFOinterviews: Are you actively looking for investors?
Mr. Lipman: “Yes, that is one thing that we are
always interested in. We need to build up a shareholders base. I was able to
do that with our other company; get us up to four or five thousand
shareholders. I can usually do that quickly. I go on television and do many
radio shows. That is how I was able to build a shareholder network, by
spreading the word of what we were doing.”
CEOCFOinterviews: In closing, what should people know about Y-Tel
that they may not realize when they look at the company?
Mr. Lipman: “The one thing that people should
realize is that telecom is on its way back. There is a lot of money on the
sidelines involving telecom right now. The sector of being in Wi-Fi with
telecom is extremely hot right now. People have heard of Wi-Fi and broadband
for computers for years. Take it one step further, if you are looking at
telecom and Wi-Fi that’s great, but if you should be looking at Wi-Fi for
voice and voice internationally. Our target is the international caller and
the person that calls from outside the U.S. and into the U.S. That is the
part in telecommunications that has the greatest potential for growth in the
next two years.”
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