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

February 2011

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The Hosted UC Script

February 28, 2011

I'm at Enterprise Connect (formerly VoiceCon) where the talk is all about CLOUD. (Surprise!) Cloud Communications from Cisco, Avaya, Shoretel (Untangling Complexity), Microsoft Lync, Sprint, IBM, Smoothstone, XO and Verizon. I didn't see a MITEL booth but at least 5 MITEL folks are speaking. Dan York is here.

Dash CS to Bandwidth.com

February 28, 2011

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DASH Carrier Services, a provider of E-911 and other services to the ITSP sector, was acquired by Bandwidth.com. Interestingly, Bandwidth.com used to be the provider of VoIP origination and termination services for many VoIP providers, but since gaining the Google Voice contract has lost many customers due to a lack of support. To be fair, if you have one ivory whale like GV, and get another (Verizon), the rest of the pack are just minnows. Now they will get those minnows back with the purchase of DASH.

Already my phone is ringing with questions about replacements for DASH, since providers that left BW don't want to go back.

Andy thinks this means an IPO coming for Bandwidth.com.



How Important is Retention?

February 27, 2011

For service providers who understand the cost of customer acquisition, retention is an important metric. In fact, Wall Street calls it churn. It has to remain under 2% to be considered under control.

For agents, retention is just as important.

Thoughts from Social Fresh

February 24, 2011

Social Fresh Tampa was this week but I only attended the final panel on Day 2. Justin Levy (now at Citrix) resonates with me. Zena Weist of H&R Block did not. Paula Berg formerly at Southwest Airlines, now with Linhart PR shoots straight.

ATTB2B

February 23, 2011

VoIP Consolidation Well Underway

February 22, 2011

There's been some M&A among VoIP Providers this year but there is more on the horizon. CLEC's are looking to get in the game with an acquisition. Indeed EarthLink did just that with its quiet acquisition of STS Telecom, a former UNE-P then Sylantro shop in South Florida (to go with its purchase of Deltacom).

Other ITSP's are actively seeking an acquisition or hoping one will come along.

Consumer Telecom Dropping

February 21, 2011

With the latest quarterly financial reporting in, one item stands out: CenturyLink, Qwest, Windstream and EarthLink are all experiencing consumer decline.

"CenturyLink Inc and Qwest Communications International Inc both posted quarterly revenue declines in what is expected to be their last reports as independent telephone operators, as customers disconnected their home phones in favor of cellphones." [Reuters]

In the case of Windstream, Morningstar reports that "Consumer revenue, which accounts for about 35% of the business directly, dropped 3% versus a year ago, in line with the prior quarter and a significant improvement versus the first half of 2010. Demand trends weakened, however, with phone customer losses increasing sharply versus both the prior year and quarter. Internet access and television customer growth also slowed to a trickle during the quarter."

Google Sued by VoIP

February 17, 2011

A Revolutionary Agent

February 17, 2011

A Mammoth Ethernet Movement

February 17, 2011

Level3 Channel Update

February 16, 2011

Yesterday on its partner call, Level3 rolled out Level 3 Business Partner University. Most carriers that I have spoken with understand that educating the Channel is the key to revenue growth. "This training platform was designed to make these self-service modules easier to use with the information that you need to successfully sell Level 3 services - all at your own pace.

MPLS, SIP, Cloud, UC, Convergence - all of these changes are coming at VAR's and Agents at a time when they are still trying to survive the recent economic onslaught.

ILEC News

February 16, 2011

Keyon Marches On

February 16, 2011

Satellite Merger

February 14, 2011

Gary Kim writes that Echostar is buying Hughes Communications Inc. A majority of Hughes is owned by investment firm, Apollo Management IV, which, according to the BizJournal already approved the deal. Of course, the FCC has to approve the deal too.

BTW, already there is a hungry lawyer in Florida ready to sue Hughes over the deal for not getting a better deal.

Echostar is in a bidding war with Phillip Falcone's Lightsquared over two bankrupt companies, BDSD and Terrestar. These three wins would give Echostar a dominant place in satellite TV, broadband and manages services associated with its primary business of set-top boxes and Satellite Services.

This news comes right after Echostar acquired Move Networks, an adaptive streaming company for OTT Video.





Agent Podcast: Evan Gillman

February 11, 2011

Two More Acquisitions

February 9, 2011

According to a letter to PAETEC employees, "Earlier today, we announced plans to acquire XETA Technologies, Inc. which will dramatically expand our capabilities to serve customers with unique, equipment-based solutions nationwide. XETA is very similar to Quagga (or what we used to call PAETEC ISG), providing innovative solutions to enterprise customers while delivering exceptional customer service."

PAETEC is using this $61M acquisition to boost its Managed Services business to the enterprise space. But at the same time they are worrying the Channel.

Please Leave a Message

February 8, 2011

Listening to panelists all week, I think that they only come in two flavors: one, those enamored with the technology and two, those that have to get their talking points out (like a politician). In both cases, they miss the mark. At least, the passion techie or geek is interesting to listen to.

Why do you think voicemail is so prevalent?

Agent Open Call

February 8, 2011

2011 Will Be Tough

February 7, 2011

Several Carriers have notified agents that in 2011, they will be "managing to their contracts". "Some Carriers are having monthly reviews with their Contract Divisions to see which Agents are not meeting their obligations. While most Carriers were open to allowing Agents to roll their bases under a Master in 2010, we are seeing this to be a lot more difficult in 2011."

I would take this as a heads-up to review your own contracts to see what you need to do to secure your commission streams in 2011.

Congrats to AT&T Partners

February 7, 2011

AT&T announced the 2011 AT&T Business Solution Provider Champions. There are only 3 Gold winners: Cydcor, Presidio and Spearhead. One of the Bronze winners, JBS of Orlando, I have known for quite a few years.

Congratulations to these companies because working with AT&T is a Challenge.

Quick LTE Thought

February 3, 2011

ITEXPO Dinner Plans

February 3, 2011

So last night was the dinner gathering where I invite everyone to come have a Dutch treat meal with some great conversation. Last night was no different. Maybe this show should be known as the end to end communications solution show because when you are here you meet everyone who touches the space.

End users looking for deployment and install answers.

The Emergence of Cloud Telephony

February 2, 2011

So my panel this morning on Trends and Future of VoiP/Telco 2.0: the Emergence of Cloud Telephony with Cbeyond and Dialogic was standing room only. The slide deck is here:ITEXPO-East-2011-Emergence of Cloud Telephony.

We discussed the trend of SMB to move to the Cloud for not just Voice. We hit on deployment, security, Fax over IP, and benefits.

TWC Snags Navisite

February 2, 2011

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