CEO Kenneth Meister, under a new ownership group, aims to undercut BellSouth's telephone rates and expand phone and Internet service to Supra's 260,000 customers, most of whom are in South Florida. But analysts say Supra also needs to place a premium on good customer service if it hopes to succeed.

"I think in order to compete, you've got to be focused on your market niche," Meister says. "We're going to focus on local residential customers on a regional basis and within that area, we're going to focus on the Hispanic marketplace."

Meister says Supra will spend most of this year attempting to wean itself off its dependency on BellSouth, from which it leases telephony lines. The cost of the leasing helped contribute to Supra's financial woes. To avoid those problems again, Supra will integrate its network with that of Maitland-based FDN Communications, which has its own transmission lines throughout Florida. FDN and HIG Capital Management Inc., a private investment firm in Miami, each acquired 50 percent of Supra in March when the telecom emerged from more than two years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Meister expects 2005 revenues to remain near $150 million because of the transition. Supra will then focus on expanding its largely Hispanic customer base, he says.

The federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 requires monopolies such as BellSouth to grant competing telecoms access to their equipment. Since then, BellSouth has leased different parts of its network to phone carriers like Supra. But operating within FDN's large network allows Supra to save money by only having to lease what is known in telecom circles as the "last mile loop" - lines that run from regional BellSouth offices to homes.

"We'll ... be a marketing [and] customer care-focused company using FDN's network to actually order the service," Meister says.

For now, Meister says Supra's rates will remain approximately 15 percent cheaper than BellSouth's and that there are no plans to raise prices. That strategy has been called into question by industry experts because of recent published comments by former Supra CEO Russ Lambert, who said low rates are part of what got Supra into financial trouble.

Lonnie Maier, CEO of Fort Lauderdale-based telecom consulting firm Maier and Associates, says Supra offers many telephone service choices that are easy to understand and order. Still, the key to success, she says, will be better customer service, such as honoring service dates requested by customers and eliminating language barriers.

"It goes back to creative bundling of services and constantly saying, 'How can I stay in the forefront of the customer decision-making process,?'" says Maier, a former BellSouth executive. "I think that BellSouth is very proactive for all of their customers."

Meister says the company will focus on bundling services like local and long-distance calling with cheap rates to certain Latin American countries.

"With the Hispanic marketplace and with our focus on international products, we have a better chance of saying we're different than BellSouth," Meister says. "We really focus on & better calling plans for people who live here who may have relatives or friends or businesses in other countries, and we just have a better chance of having a loyal customer base."

The company also offers dial-up Internet service but is working on a broadband service that Meister says will be about 10 times faster than DSL. Meister hopes to eventually offer a package that bundles local and long-distance calling, high-speed Internet and cable television services - a bundle he dubs "triple play."

"That's where the battle is going to be, between the telephone and the cable companies," Meister says.

That battle may become heated again. Meister says Supra is filing a complaint with the Florida Public Service commission, saying BellSouth gains an unfair advantage by offering a customer cash incentives when that customer threatens to switch to another company.

"That's anticompetitive because they are not offering that price to everyone, just to those people who leave to go to something else," Meister says.

Maier disagrees; she says Supra can do the same thing to BellSouth.

The fact that Supra became - and remains - the second largest telecom in South Florida behind BellSouth is amazing. Founded by Olukayode Ramos in 1996, Supra had about 15,000 customers in late 1998 and about 280,000 when it filed for bankruptcy in October 2002. But frequent and often nasty billing disputes with BellSouth forced Supra to seek bankruptcy protection after the telecom giant threatened to take over Supra's customers. BellSouth said in court filings at the time that Supra had $100 million in debt.

Lambert, Supra's chief operating officer under the former ownership group, guided the telecom through bankruptcy as CEO until FDN gave Meister the job in April.

Meister, who was FDN's chief financial officer before joining Supra, says Supra's relationship with BellSouth has improved since FDN assumed control of the company.

"BellSouth doesn't have to worry about professionalism, longevity, capital, etc.," Meister says. "They know that [FDN is] going to pay their bills and they dispute legitimate disputes. I think BellSouth recognizes that we have new owners, we're a new company and we're going to be properly funded."

Marta Casas-Celaya, a BellSouth spokeswoman, would only say about Supra that BellSouth was "working with them to rebuild a good working relationship."

BellSouth may not be the only major competitor Supra will be dealing with in the future. Meister says the company hopes to expand into central Florida, New York and possibly Atlanta, where FDN also has a network. Consultant Maier says Supra should worry about establishing itself better in its current market before looking elsewhere.

"I would become great at what I do in my existing territory and then expand as long as I know I can be great," Maier says.

But Meister says Supra has to expand not only its products but also its service area if it hopes to succeed: "Ultimately you have to give customers a reason to stick [other] than just plain old telephone."