Isle merger
links 2 telecom companies

DigiTel's customers will include hotels,
hospitals and the military

Star-Bulletin staff



Two Hawaii telecommunications companies, providing exchanges and communications systems for hotels and other businesses, have merged to form a new company called DigiTel to provide a wider range of services, their owners said.

The combination of Tel-A-Com Hawaii Inc. and Hawaiian Communications will produce more than $10 million in annual revenues, the companies said yesterday.

The owners of DigiTel are Richard Kelley and David Carey, chairman and president respectively of Outrigger Hotels & Resorts; Robert McGregor, owner of International Travel Service; and Jeffrey Kissel, owner of Hawaiian Communications.

The new company will provide businesses with advanced telephone systems, computer telephone connections, video conferencing and Internet access, they said.

"More and more people are realizing that their telephones can do so much more than simply put voices in touch with each other," Kissel said in a news release.

Prior to the merger, Tel-A-Com concentrated on developing telecommunications systems for offices while Hawaiian Communications was a specialist in the hospitality industry.

DigiTel's customer base includes more than half of the hotels in Hawaii, hospitals, military installations, airlines, real estate businesses, educational institutions and small businesses, the company said.

Tel-A-Com had 31 employees and Hawaiian Communications had 45. About 16 are in a subsidiary, Muzak Systems, which will become a separate business, leaving the new DigiTel with about 50 employees.




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