As seen in the October 18, 2010  COMPTEL Connection

MegaGate Broadband, Inc
Headquarters: Hattiesburg, Mississippi
www.megagate.com

Q: What does your company do and how long has it been in operation?
A: MegaGate Broadband is a CLEC, focused primarily on serving business customers in the state of Mississippi.  The company began in 1998 as a division of a cellular telephone company, which was sold to Alltel Communications in 2003.

Q: To what do you attribute your company’s success in the communications industry?
A: We go the extra mile to support our customers, and do so better than the “big guys.”  We are big enough and have enough expertise to provide innovative solutions, but small enough to think on our feet and move quickly when necessary.  Our people are our greatest asses, however, and are really what make the difference.

Q: What have been the biggest obstacles your company has faced in the marketplace?
A: The economy of the past two years has been a challenge.  Churn has ticked up, not because people are leaving us for competitors at an increasing rate, rather more of our customers scaling back or going out of business than we’ve ever seen.  This trend appeared to be loosening up somewhat in the first half of 2010, however. Regulatory uncertainty has always been, and probably will always be, a challenge in this industry.

Q: What do you see as your greatest challenges going forward?
A: We see the fragility of the economy as our greatest challenge going forward.

Q: What have been some of your company’s most recent achievements (new customer wins, new service/product deployment, etc.)?
A: Hosted Telephone Service finally seems to be gaining some traction in our market.  We have won several larger opportunities lately, and see even more on the horizon.

Q: Why is it important for your company to be a COMPTEL member?
A: The information we receive from COMPTEL helps keep us plugged in to the industry so we can stay abreast of important issues that could affect us and must be considered in our strategic planning efforts.