Technology Service Group Inc. (TSG), an Atlanta telecommunications equipment company recently selected to provide payphone equipment for a 4,000 unit project in Ecuador, hopes to expand its international business despite concerns about political stability in Latin America, said Griff Martin, TSG’s director of sales, in a Feb. 12 interview with GlobalFax.
TSG engineers, designs and manufactures “smart payphone electronics” which allow plastic cards with tiny microprocessors to be used as payment for calls placed from payphones, and also refurbishes and repairs payphone equipment that is already in use.
Conecel, Ecuador’s largest provider of wireless communications services, selected TSG last month, after an extensive testing and examination process, to install up to 4000 wireline smart payphones over the next four years.
When asked if the recent political upheaval in Ecuador was causing TSG to have second thoughts, Mr. Martin said, “We have some concerns, but when you talk to the people down there, they’re not all that concerned. It’s nothing unusual to them. I don’t think that it’s going to have much impact on telecommunications in the country.”
The agreement is important to TSG because it demonstrates that the company can compete successfully in the world market against major telecommunications equipment providers, said Mr. Martin. “It was a head-to-head competition against some large international players, and a very objective analysis,” he added.
Although the company has customers in Mexico, Latin America, Korea and mainland China, international sales currently make up only a small percentage of TSG’s revenue, with the Regional Bell Operating Companies accounting for the majority of about $33 million in sales.
However, said Mr. Martin, “we would like to grow internationally, because this represents a tremendous potential for us.”
The company, which has a manufacturing facility in Virginia, and several overseas representatives, will be moving its headquarters from Roswell to Alpharetta in April. The new 40,000 square foot facility will include space for some light manufacturing, Mr. Martin said.
For more information call Bart Bartusek, TSG’s vice president of worldwide sales at (770) 587-0208; fax (770) 641-7528.