Excel Communications

Excel Communications was created by Dallas entrepreneur Kenny Troutt as a long distance reseller in the telecom sector at the birth of telecom deregulation.

In the beginning, as the 432nd-largest long distance company in the United States, it began selling franchises through the business model of Network Marketing or Multi-level marketing (MLM). In seven years, it became the fourth-largest long distance carrier in America and the youngest billion-dollar-annual company in history (8 years as compared to the second fastest growing, Microsoft, which took 15 years).

Unlike many MLM's, Excel has not been accused of unethical behaviour. It was invited to join the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 1996 and was the youngest company to ever be offered such an honor.

What separated Excel was its base of independent representatives that had previously little to no experience in the realm of Network Marketing. The top earners in Excel, such as Phil Mims, Al Thomas, and Jan Johnson are among the highest earners in the history of MLM as well as in the top tenth of a percent of all income earners in America. By 2002, Excel had entered the local phone service market more aggressively than smaller competitors such as MCI's neighborhood.

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