Wholesaler Vanco Direct Makes Debut at COMPTEL PLUS

Vanco Direct (Booth 413), the wholesale division of virtual network operator Vanco, is showcasing its tools and services, which it offers to carriers across the globe thanks to its acquisition last year of Universal Access.

Vanco Direct used to be Universal Access and is making its debut at the COMPTEL PLUS Convention + Expo in San Diego. “We were at COMPTEL after we acquired Universal, but we didn’t have a presence on the floor,” said Ted Raffetto, Vanco Direct’s CEO. “Now we want to make our debut. We want to demonstrate our portal and our tools and really make a splash.”

Vanco Direct bought Universal Access for its database of where carriers and their routes are located. In addition, “they’d built a tool for private and leased lines for determining best cost and carrier,” Raffetto explained. Universal Access was going through bankruptcy when Vanco Direct acquired it, but it had a number of “very good” carriers that stuck with it, including Adelphia, Bell Canada, Comcast Corp. and Verizon Communications Inc., Raffetto said.

Since it is not facilities-based, Vanco Direct sees itself as a partner for carriers. “We’re like the Switzerland of carriers because we’re objective, unbiased and we provide some services that we think enhance a particular carrier’s competencies,” said Raffetto. Vanco Direct also serves enterprises, a demographic carriers are eager to reach, and they can do that globally through the virtual network operator.

In the first six months of running the wholesale business, “our volumes are up more than 70 percent from where they were. We’re seeing real good traction with the carrier customers,” Raffetto noted, adding that is because the company can integrate with other carriers and provide hosted services such as project management.

Pricing is done on a case-by-case basis so Vanco Direct can provide the optimal rates in each situation.

This week, Vanco Direct plans to offer giveaways at its booth; at press time, the company was mulling raffling off tickets to the international baseball game to take place in San Diego.

Vanco is based in the United Kingdom and provides DS-1 through OC192 private-line solutions.