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| Peter Radizeski of RAD-INFO, Inc. talking telecom, Cloud, VoIP, CLEC, and The Channel.

September 2010

You are browsing the archive for September 2010.

What to Ask Your Prospective VoIP Provider

September 29, 2010

If you are a VAR or telecom agent about to pick out a strategic partner to be the VoIP Provider that you work with, here are some things to ask the execs.

Are you a CLEC? It isn't a requirement to be a CLEC to deliver VoIP. However, if not, E-911 and porting will be done by a third-party.

The Channel and IP Comm

September 29, 2010

I presented on a webinar for the Technology Channel Association today titled How to SELLECOM Hosted PBX. We had a good turn out and many questions (which I appreciate).

One question was why I would suggest that the agent NOT ask for the bill. When selling IP Communications, it isn't about cost savings.

The Mobile Ecosystem Battle

September 28, 2010

Just finished recording a webinar for COMDEX-Virtual on Mobility + The Cloud = Convergence in Telecom. Khali Henderson, Editor-in-Chief of Phone+ magazine was on the panel with me. I shared this article her because it was relevant. Now I want to share it with you along with my thoughts.

Americans Agree the Internet is Working

September 23, 2010

"Hart Research Associates conducted a national survey finding that opposition to government Internet regulation remains high with more than 75 percent of respondents agreeing that the Internet is currently working well and over 55 percent stating that the federal government should not regulate the Internet at all." From Broadband for America.

A couple of things:

Sample size: 800 voters. Not much of a cross-section of "225M registered voters.

So We Have These Mergers

September 22, 2010

So we have all these mergers taking place, then I'm reading Consulting magazine to find a book review about John Hagel's The Power of Pull. We are in an era of declining ROA from Big Business, so they have to keep buying assets to stave it off.

"to support that proposition we muster a set of evidence around performance trends over long periods of time for all public companies in the United States. In particular, we show that return on assets (ROA) for all public companies in the U.S. has eroded in a very substantial and sustained rate since 1965.

Promiscuous Networking

September 22, 2010

While this whole social media thing is new and yet evolving, experts have emerged. Ninjas even. All these folks that lay a claim to knowing everything there is to know about social media. It was the same with multi-level marketing (MLM) aka network marketing.

TCA Announces Certification at Channel Chief Summit

September 20, 2010

At the Channel Partners Expo in DC this week, the Technology Channel Association (TCA), a nonprofit trade group for the indirect sales channel, held its second Channel Chief Summit. This member only event is a chance for the channel executives to mingle and discuss best practices and ways to grow the ocean that is The Channel. Topics discussed included the membership recruitment drive underway at the TCA; industry visibility opportunities for members; what role the Channel will have in cloud computing; and TCA's huge educational push.

Besides monthly peer led webinars, TCA will be launching a Certified Telecommunications Professional (CTP) program designed for telecom agents.

A Few Days of News

September 20, 2010

The FCC has written a protectic order for Inter-Carrier Compensation finally! "Developing a Unified Inter-Carrier Compensation Regime, establishing just and reasonable rates, Connect America, high-cost universal Service Support and the National broadband Plan for Our Future. Adopted a Protective Order in this proceeding." (Dkt No. 10-90 01-92 05-337 07-135 09-51)  Just means that you can provide data redacted for privacy. But it does mean that the FCC is moving forward.

Knology Buys Sunflower

September 20, 2010

COLOTRAQ Picks Up Slack

September 13, 2010

VZ Bumps Commissions Again

September 13, 2010

Paetec acquiring Cavalier

September 13, 2010

PAETEC announced that it is merging with Cavalier Telephone this morning. The transaction is worth about $796M if I read between the lines correctly - $336M in debt and $460M in financing. So PAETEC gets about $800M in additional revenue for $796M.

CavTel will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of PAETEC.

Sprint FMC Integration Service

September 13, 2010

According to the press release today, Sprint just annoounced Wholesale Mobile Integration. Not true. Last October at Broadsoft Connections, Sprint was talking about MVNO options like this. At the Channel Partners Expo in Vegas in february, I tracked down the Sprint Product Manager for this offering.

CEO Moment

September 13, 2010

Football season started this weekend. The General Manager's job of an NFL team is to build a winning team. Let's assume that the team has a developing quarterback and a good running back. The GM's job during the draft and trade is to get the best blocking line that he can.

Bundling for Stickiness

September 10, 2010

Last year at Broadsoft Connections I did a panel on Bundling. Not many VoIP Providers bundle. Sure they offer Internet Access but that's mainly for QOS. What do they offer that makes them STAND OUT?

The Channel Loses a Champion

September 9, 2010

More Trade Show Tips

September 8, 2010

Here are some more links to some helpful tips for your trade show schedule.

First up, HOW TO: 10 Tips on Presenting at Conferences. Let me summarize: PowerPoint is NOT to be read to the audience and remember the 10-20-30 Rule by Guy Kawasaki (video)!

There's a rather long slide show on slideshare called Steal This Presentation.

Trade Show Follow Up

September 8, 2010

Net-Head Talking Coming Up

September 7, 2010

At ChannelVision Expo, I will be presenting Bell-Head versus Net-Head. I have been discussing that here and in Internet Telephony magazine since January 2009. I will be touching on that in a session titled Upselling SIP Trunking at CVX, where we talk about SIP Trunking just being a stepping stone to the water fall of IP Communications. (You know that buzz word: UC?)

So this is draft one of the talk slides:


There is certainly still money to be made selling POTS, DSL, T1, and cellular services - commodities all of them - but to make money in the future will need to understand and embrace IP - Metro Ethernet, Waves, Hosted PBX, SAAS, UC, and everything CLOUD.


The Era of Freelancers

September 7, 2010

Locally, I help organize BarCamp Tampa Bay, the UN-Conference for creatives, geeks, and techies. We gather for 2 days to share, engage, learn and network. We have had over 60 sessions both years. There will be more this year.

We're Sorry

September 7, 2010

What's Up with the New MegaPath

September 7, 2010

MegaPath just completed its three-way merger with Covad and Speakeasy. I had some questions for the company and Rich Sabin, Director of Marketing, was nice enough of answer them.

 

1. Now that Speakeasy, Covad and MegaPath are one organization, how will this affect the Channel (Agents)?

The New MegaPath remains committed to serving our partners, and we are in the process of rolling out an exciting new Channel Partner Program later this year.

Cloud Computing for Beginners

September 6, 2010

CTIA: 50 Facts About Wireless

September 2, 2010

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