Technology >> CEO Interviews >> May 11, 2000
ROBERT C. TAYLOR is President and Chief Executive Officer for Focal
Communications Corporation. He was appointed to this position in August
1996. Mr. Taylor is also the company's co-Founder and Director. Focal is
a leading national communications provider. In 1999 the company earned
approximately $127 million in revenue and installed more than 181,000
lines. Currently, Focal provides service to 19 major metropolitan
markets across the United States and plans to expand into 24 markets by
the end of 2000. Since Focal's inception in 1996, the Company has
experienced tremendous growth and emerged as the communications provider
of choice for large corporations, value-added resellers and Internet
service providers. Headquartered in Chicago, Focal's common stock is
traded on the Nasdaq National Market system under the symbol FCOM. Mr.
Taylor is the Chairman of the Association for Local Telecommunications
Services (ALTS, www.alts.org), the nation's leading organization
representing facilities-based competitive local exchange carriers
(CLECs). He is also a member of the University of Chicago's Graduate
School of Business Entrepreneur Advisory Board. Mr. Taylor was awarded
the 1999 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In addition, Mr.
Taylor sits on the Board of Directors for IPLAN Networks, a CLEC based
in Argentina. With over 15 years of telecommunications experience, Mr.
Taylor has held positions with MFS Communications, most recently as Vice
President of Global Accounts, where he worked with the company's 50
largest customers and executed market development activities in Mexico
and Canada. Prior to joining MFS in 1994, he was one of the original
senior executives at McLead Telecommunications Group and has held
management positions with MCI, Beltcore and Ameritech. Profile
Focal Communications.
Mr. Taylor: Focal Communications began operations in 1996 with the goal
of building a better local
