The WilTel Inc telecommunications unit of Williams Cos, Tulsa oil pipeline operator that has built a parallel business laying fibre cables in its pipes, is to restructure its business to focus on the data communications market. It will add several hundred marketing and technical data specialists to bolster the new focus on data over its various leased line and public Frame Relay services. It plans to differentiate itself from its competitors by providing customers with appropriate data services rather than the latest technology to solve their data communications problems – but it also intends to remain in and grow the switched voice and equipment markets. It also says that Convex Computer Corp will be a beta test site for its planned Asynchronous Transfer Mode network.
