VeriSign seeks to recoup wireline settlement business

United States telecoms services provider VeriSign (Nasdaq: VRSN) plans to recoup wireline customers for its recently-purchased clearinghouse business, which had been lost by Brazilian telco Embratel (NYSE: EMT), VeriSign telecoms marketing and communications director Maria Watts told BNamericas. In October, Verisign agreed to buy Embratel's clearinghouse, UNC, which had seen business from wireline operators drop off due to the deregulation of the segment, which meant Embratel became their principal competitor. Consequently, UNC - since renamed VeriSign Brazil - has a client base made up largely of wireless operators, she said. "Now that we are independent and really don't have any affiliation to any telecommunications company down in Brazil...we think we can get back some of that wireline clearing business," Watts said. Recovering some of this wireline business should help boost the unit's revenues to US$10mn in 2004, up from the US$8mn posted in 2002 under Embratel management, Watts said. Additionally, the company also plans to offer new services including interoperability platforms for the sending of mobile telephony text messages and roaming, and an upgraded "caller ID" service which shows the name and number of a caller, she said. The acquisition of VeriSign Brazil is another step in the company's Latin American expansion plan, Watts said, explaining that the region is attractive because it has a "good market base and is close to home." VeriSign debuted in the region two years ago with the purchase of Ilumina, a telecoms clearinghouse and roaming services provider owned by US operator Bellsouth. Through Ilumina, VeriSign offers mainly in-country and international roaming services for small operators throughout the region, but revenue from these services has been only "nominal" to date, she added.