By Ayala Ben-Yehuda
Orion Telecommunications Corp., a Bayside company that bills itself as one of the largest providers of prepaid calling cards in the country, is moving into the former Associated Supermarket building at 42-11 Bell Blvd.
Construction has been going on for several weeks at the site. Some furniture and a company sign were moved into the office this week.
Orion, which goes by the abbreviation OTC, currently has at least five other offices on or near Bell Boulevard, including its current main office in the Bell Plaza building at 42-40 Bell Blvd.
“I honestly don't know anything about them,” said Judy Limpert, president of the Bayside Business Association. “We just know that they do have a lot of space, and we always said that if they decide to leave, we're going to have a lot of empty stores.”
OTC's other offices are at 42-29 Bell Blvd.; 42-38 Bell Blvd.; 36-47 Bell Blvd.; and 214-18 41st Ave.
Attempts to interview OTC officials were unsuccessful. A visit to the company's Bell Plaza offices revealed a large work force of young people, although it was unclear what they were doing.
The private company's Web site lists the founder and chief executive officer as Peter P. Sicilian, Jr., a past president of Phone Holdings, Inc. and PH1 Telecommunications.
“Since commencing operations in 1998, we have increased monthly revenues by more than 70 times in only four years of operation,” read a company profile on the Web site.
Melanie Swan, a telecommunications industry analyst at the San Francisco-based RHK research firm, said the prepaid phone card business had been “a big growth business in the last couple of years.” But she noted that the market was becoming saturated and would probably not grow as quickly in the future.
“Maybe they are getting into another line of business, whether it's prepaid or not,” said Swan.
A December article by consultant Dr. Judy Reed Smith on Phone Plus, an online trade journal, called OTC a “mainstay” of the prepaid card industry.
“In the future, competitors and industry experts alike will watch as OTC continues to expand its 'prepaid pure' business, both through domestic and international outbound calling,” the article said.
Reach reporter Ayala Ben-Yehuda at www.timesledger.com, or call 1-718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
