On the down slope of the telecom bubble, as things started to look grim in the CLEC sector, the two names that kept coming up as likely survivors in that bloodbath were Allegiance Telecom and McLeodUSA. Led respectively by a Texan and an Iowan, both were viewed as conservative, disciplined souls in an irrationally exuberant world.

However, both firms eventually maxed out their credit cards and declared bankruptcy. Allegiance was acquired by XO Communications in 2004, and its CEO, Royce Holland, later took the reins at McLeod. Meanwhile, Clark McLeod’s wholesome Midwestern image was later tarnished in court.

A less visible figure in the industry, Arunas Chesonis, hasn’t let go of the wheel since he helped found his own CLEC, Paetec, in 1998. His company has quietly exhibited the kind of gradual ascendance once imagined for Allegiance and McLeod, proclaiming itself only this month as an aggressive threat to AT&T and Verizon. Having acquired US LEC (itself a highly effective and aggressive competitor) last year, Paetec finally put an end to the McLeodUSA story this week, buying for pennies on the dollar what McLeod spent billions to construct. (Whether it also marks the end of Holland’s time in the CLEC space remains to be seen.)

It’s another example of the future side-stepping projections-- a reminder that, 10 years from now, some of the biggest names in the industry will be names you don’t know today. But they’re the names of people who are right beside you, working hard.

E-mail me at ed.gubbins@penton.com.