BTI Telecom Corp.

About BTI Telecom Corp.

In 1983, a 25-year-old entrepreneur named Peter Loftin saw an opportunity in the recently deregulated telecommunications industry. From Raleigh, North Carolina, he launched Business Telecom, Inc. (BTI), a company designed to compete with the established giants by providing integrated communications services to small and medium-sized businesses. BTI offered a suite of services including local and long-distance calling, internet, and data, and was a pioneer in offering flat-rate pricing for long distance. The company found its footing and began a period of significant growth. By 1999, BTI was recognized as one of the top fifteen telecommunications companies in the nation, serving over 60,000 customers with a team of 600 employees and generating revenues that exceeded $400 million. Loftin, who was named North Carolina's Entrepreneur of the Year, assembled a notable board that included the former vice-chairman of IBM, Paul J. Rizzo. The playbook for a successful independent telecom provider often ends in a strategic exit. For BTI, that event came in 2003 when the company merged with Deltacom. This move combined BTI's strong presence with a larger regional carrier. The BTI story reached its final chapter when its new parent company, Deltacom, was itself acquired by EarthLink in 2010, marking the consolidation of a once-fierce competitor into an industry stalwart.