February 2012

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T-Mobile's Next Move

February 24, 2012

T-Mobile to Pump $4 Billion Into Network, 4G LTE Buildout. This is T-Mobile's next move on the heels of getting fiber and billions in cash from AT&T after the merger was nixed by the government agencies.

I have to laugh at this because Clearwire has clearly (heh) spent more than $4B to only partially build out a nationwide 4G network. How will T-Mobile do it for $4B?

Posted in FCC, cellular, mergers, spectrum, wireless

Tagged: 4g, cellular, dish, mergers, spectrum, sprint, vzw : Related Tags: sprint, mobile, network, metropcs, think, board

A Brief View of Integra Telecom

February 21, 2012

I interviewed Integra in Austin last year. Like quite a few interviews I do, I just can't find the time to write up the blog. It may seem like I do this blogging thing full time, but my bills still get paid doing consulting to ISP-CLEC-VOIP-MSO companies and being a telecom agent. It makes for a lot of juggling and long hours.

Posted in CLEC, channel, cloud computing, fiber, hosted uc, security, telecommunications, unified communications

Tagged: clec, collaboration, fiber, integra, managed services, microsoft, security, UC : Related Tags: integra telecom, firewall service, integra, telecom, microsoft, network

Why SIP Trunking is Not a PRI

February 21, 2012

"Integra Telecom has lab-certified the Fonality trixbox Community Edition (CE) IP PBX system to operate with its SIP Trunking service. The certification helps ensure interoperability and seamless operation between trixbox CE and Integra solutions" - see how specific that is? That's the difference between SIP trunking and PRI. PRI has 2 configurations on the switch. The NI-2 protocol was the primary configuration for RAS boxes and PRI cards on PBX boxes. National ISDN 2 is a standard.

SIP is made up of about 30 RFC's (or opinions if you will). So each carrier configures SIP differently. That's why for SIP trunks inter-operability is so important! Down to the model number.

Posted in PBX, sip trunking

Tagged: pbx, sip, sip trunk, sip trunking : Related Tags: trunking

What About Selling Cloud?

February 21, 2012

At The CPZ, the rest of the panel were cloud guys (VAR's and Hosted UC). This is a snippet of the conversation where the panel is talking about how transactional telecom sales are dead, long live the Cloud!

People deemed LD dead years ago (like when MCI went BK), too, but there are still a large number of agents and resellers making money on LD and pre-paid calling cards.

Until TDM is retired, agents will still be selling POTS, DSL and T1 - and making a living doing so.

Posted in CLEC, Marketing, VAR, agents, bandwidth, broadband, cableco, channel, cloud computing, hosted uc, msp, sales and selling, telco, voip, wireline

Tagged: agents, channel partners, clec, cloud computing, hosted pbx, sellecom, selling, telecom is broken, VAR, voip : Related Tags: sales trigger, telecom sales, cheap stuff, sales triggers, selling cloud, sales

Telecom Tidbits on Presidents Day

February 20, 2012

On a LinkedIn group we are discussing SLA (service level agreements) and how they do not represent uptime. If you need uptime, you need redundancy. You need to build a resilient network. Netwolves has a solution called Bonded Broadband.

Posted in FCC, broadband, cloud computing, conferencing, disaster recovery, hosted uc, voip, xo

Tagged: aastra, broadband, business continuity, cloud computing, CPE, earthlink, fcc, iphone, sla, voip : Related Tags: bonded broadband, service, phone, number, rogers, access

Has Verizon Stopped Repairing Copper?

February 17, 2012

Over and over, I am hearing that Verizon has given up on copper. From repair issues to DSL to stripping copper out when FiOS is installed, the story seems to point to VZ looking to forget its copper plant.

in a discussion on LinkedIn about SLA's, one agent had this to say, "The absolute WORST cases I have seen have all been in the northeast where Verizon's copper is concerned. Verizon seems to have made the decision to put all efforts and funds behind their fiber build out (a good thing) but have completely sacrificed the quality behind their copper services such as T1.

Posted in CLEC, FCC, FTC, ISP, disaster recovery, duopoly, fiber, outage, telco, wireline

Tagged: copper, ilec, sla, telecom is broken, vz, wireline : Related Tags: copper, fiber, verizon, wholesale, doesn, outage

Channel Manager Best Practices

February 17, 2012

On Tuesday, March 27 at 11:30AM PT, the Technology Channel Association (TCA) will hold the first ever Channel Managers Best Practices Forum at the Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.

TCA's mission is channel education. The TCA holds monthly webinars for members and has developed a Certified telecom Professional program. In Vegas, the TCA will be holding our 5th Channel Chief Summit alongside this Channel Managers forum. With this event, channel managers will have the opportunity to network and learn from their peers.

Posted in TCA, certification, channel, conferences, expo

Tagged: channel managers, education, TCA, tca : Related Tags: channel managers, channel manager, channel, managers, agent, practices

Enchanting Keynote at Parallels Summit 2012

February 16, 2012

Guy Kawasaki was the keynote yesterday morning for the Parallels Summit 2012 in Orlando. (Vodka bar was open at 8:20 AM!)

Guy talked about the key points from his book,Enchantment .

One is You Must be Likable. Richard Branson of Virgin is likable.

Posted in Marketing, conferences, expo

Tagged: books, customer service, expo, keynote, marketing : Related Tags: parallels summit, social proof, social media, duchenne smile, trust, story

Robocalls on Notice

February 16, 2012

YEAH!!! FCC Strengthens Consumer Protections Against Telemarketing Robocalls

'Unwanted telemarketing calls and texts were consistently in the top three consumer complaint categories at the FCC in 2011." I get about 3 per day mainly from Google Local (SEO) shops.

"The new rules reduce regulatory uncertainty with minimal burden on industry and maximize consistency with those of the Federal Trade Commission."

"Requiring telemarketers to obtain prior express written consent from them, including by electronic means such as a website form, before placing a robocall to a consumer;

"Eliminating the "established business relationship" exemption to the requirement that telemarketing robocalls to residential wireline phones occur only with prior express consent from the consumer";

"Requiring telemarketers to provide an automated, interactive "opt-out" mechanism during each robocall so that consumers can immediately tell the telemarketer to stop calling".

The FCC RoboCall info page

The FCC also voted unanimously to establish a consistent regulatory approach to reining in telemarketing calls and texts (so-called robocalls) to both wired and wireless phones, including requiring written consent of the subject of those calls, giving them an easy opt-out during a call, and clarifying that computer calls or text like usage reports or school closings would not be affected.

Posted in FCC

Tagged: FCC, telecom is broken : Related Tags: written consent, telemarketing calls, prior express, calls texts, requiring telemarketers, calls

Union Reacts to AT&T Layoffs

February 14, 2012

Not my usual topic, but I thought I would point out the following, from Rebuild the Dream:

"AT&T recently announced the "surplus" of 740 union AT&T jobs despite their revenues soaring to $126.7 billion and a CEO that made over $27 million in 2011." Nice!

Yesterday, 2/13/12, "30 activists just entered the AT&T Atlanta headquarters and are refusing to leave until every single greedy layoff is rescinded. Simultaneously, an occupation with tents is being set up outside of the building. Watch the Occupation of AT&T now: http://livestream.com/occupyAtlanta

Posted in economy, politics

Tagged: att, economy : Related Tags:

So Can You Re-Use Those Cisco Phones?

February 13, 2012

From a VAR:

"At the risk of sounding like sour grapes, in my experience no one who has tried to use old Cisco phones and bring them current with their Smartnet coverage so they can use them on a new call manager has saved money. The sad part is they won't know until each phone's current software level is individually checked to find out how much it will be and that won't happen until they are installing the system which is after the point of no return."

"I have heard that Cisco has received a lot of negative press and attention with this strict sequential updating process and has created a one-time "forgiveness" option where [your customer] may be able to update existing phones at substantial discounts. Any "new" purchases of used phones will be subject to the full upgrade process making used phone more expensive than new. Over time a Cisco solution is never the least expensive."

It's tough when you drink the Cisco kool-aid.

Posted in PBX, agents, sales and selling, voip

Tagged: cisco, hosted pbx, phone system, sip, voip : Related Tags: cisco phones, another hosted, phones, cisco, hosted

4G, 3G: Who knows?

February 13, 2012

This morning Broadcom announced 5G: "Broadcom Extends 5G WiFi Leadership with New 802.11ac Chips." This is kind of funny because most folks are confused by 3G versus 4G. Many think that iPhones run on 4G, but actually they all run on the 3G networks. No radio in there yet to pick up 4G.

Saturday Night Live has a nice video where they demonstrate the confusion that VZW has exploited about 4G, here on the verge or on NBC.

Posted in Marketing, cellular

Tagged: 3g, 4g, advertising, vzw : Related Tags:

What Twitter Told Me This Week

February 10, 2012

I get a lot of articles off twitter. Too many to write about all of them so I am just going to drop some on you here.

Please be advised that the FUSF rate for Q1 of 2012 has increased from 15.3% to 17.9%. For further information regarding FUSF Fees and rates please see the FCC website.

RebTel is #2 behind Skype with 15M users doing 2 billion minutes of international calling.

Posted in CLEC, FCC, mpls, twitter, unified communications, voip

Tagged: clec, fcc, google, mpls, rural, UC, usf, voip : Related Tags: platform, earthlink

5 Tips for Speakers

February 8, 2012

I'm not the best speaker. I'm still nervous and anxious before every talk, even when moderating. But I prepare for every talk - whether I am a moderator, panelist, keynote, trainer, or co-host. Here are some things that speakers do wrong:

Posted in PR, conferences, expo

Tagged: itexpo, radizeski : Related Tags: slides, speakers, audience

Educating the Channel with Certifications

February 7, 2012

One of the panels last week at ITEXPO was titled Educating the Channel with Certifications. When you consider that as a founding board member and current VP of the Technology Channel Association, education is a primary objective, this topic was relevant. The panelists were Louis Haynor, CSO at Alteva, and Jim Riley of Apptix. I didn't know that Apptix was an agent of Alteva and had been through their certification program.

Posted in agents, broadsoft, certification, channel, expo, hosted uc, sales and selling

Tagged: agents, certification, certified, channel partners, hosted pbx, itexpo, sales, TCA, UC, VAR : Related Tags: channel certifications, educating channel, alteva, program, training, customer

FCC is Busy!

February 7, 2012

The FCC is really busy!

The FCC is still working on Inter-Carrier Compensation. It ordered Rural Call Completion.

It approved TWC's $3B bid for Insight. "Time Warner Cable last August agreed to buy Insight for $3 billion in cash.

Posted in CLEC, FCC, broadband, cableco, compliance, politics, spectrum

Tagged: FCC, fcc, forbearance, inter-carrier compensation, spectrum, usf, white spaces : Related Tags: owned subsidiary, wholly owned, white space, inter carrier, insight, spectrum

FCC Rules on Rural

February 7, 2012

Following Congress sending him a letter, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has finally issued a ruling on Rural Call Completion [pdf].

ATIS and NTCA have been hounding the FCC as complaints went from about 100 a month in 2009 to over 1000 a month in late 2010. A group of them sent a letter to the FCC [pdf], which stated:

"the Rural Representatives identified a variety of concerns, including but not limited to: (1) calls that ring for the calling party, but not at all or on a delayed basis for the called customer of the RLEC; (2) calling parties who receive incorrect or misleading message interceptions before the call ever reaches the RLEC or the tandem it subtends; (3) calls that appear to "loop" between routing providers, but never reach the RLEC or the tandem it subtends; and (4) incorrect caller ID that displays to called parties."

Many carriers point the finger at their underlying network operator - another carrier that they dump the rural traffic on. MagicJack and Google Voice have a reputation for not completing calls to high expense rural areas.

Posted in FCC, telco, wireline

Tagged: FCC, fcc, inter-carrier compensation, rural, usf : Related Tags: tandem subtends, carrier compensation, inter carrier, rural, calls, carrier

Verizon Puts the Move on Video

February 6, 2012

After Verizon's CFO sais that FiOS was a poor economic decision for the company, I would think video would not be on the VZ radar. The FiOS TV service is so expensive to deliver that Frontier raised rates over 70% when it took over former VZ FiOS territory -- and then decided to switch all the TV over to DBS.

Comcast buying NBCU was a little different, but cablecos have owned channels before, especially sports channels (MSG, YES, BayNews9).

Maybe the TV-cord-cutting crowd is scaring the cablecos, despite the rhetoric to The Street.

Posted in cableco, cellular, duopoly, satellite, spectrum, telco, video, wireless, wireline

Tagged: att, cable, cableco, cellular, dish, duopoly, satellite, spectrum, tv, vz, vzw : Related Tags: netflix amazon, spectrum, cablecos, video, service, expensive

The ROI of the Show

February 3, 2012

This is the second time a Tampa startup was convinced to come to ITEXPO East and it turned out excitedly well. I met the guys at Phonism at IGNITE Tampa. The networking and feedback from the Industry for them has been invaluable. Why come to ITEXPO? Networking, feedback, maybe find a partner or the missing piece of the puzzle that makes everything else fall into place.

See you at 9 am and Noon today in my sessions!

Tagged: itexpo, startup, tampa : Related Tags: networking feedback

Best Channel Managers

February 3, 2012

Do you think any of your channel managers are good enough to tell other channel managers how to do better at the job? If so email their name and email and why you think they are so good. (pradizeski @ tmcnet dot com)

BTW, Regan would like some votes.

Posted in TCA, channel

Tagged: channel managers, TCA : Related Tags: channel managers, channel, managers

Correction: Savvis Comp

February 3, 2012

I blogged about Savvis/Qwest halting MMR commission to the Channel. However, Dale Tucker of the CenturyLink Channel program was at CVX before my panel telling me his people had read the blog post and that I was wrong. CenturyLink/Savvis/Qwest are paying MMR on hosting but it varies.

Check with your CCA channel manager.

Thanks for reading!

Posted in agents, channel, colocation, commissions, data center

Tagged: agents, channel partners, collocation, commissions, data center, hosting : Related Tags: savvis qwest, savvis, channel

Making Hosted UC Simple

February 2, 2012

Simple Signal sketches out Hosted UC on a napkin at ITEXPO. I guess it is that simple.

Posted in hosted uc, voip

Tagged: hosted pbx, UC, voip : Related Tags: simple

M5 Bought by Shoretel

February 2, 2012

So news at ITEXPO is that Shoretel bought M5 Networks last night for $145M, which 3x revenue. Hope shines anew in the Cloud Comm Alliance.

UPDATE:

According to the WSJ, the value of the deal is up to $162M, including $84M in cash and the rest in stock. M5 has about 2000 customers and revenue at about $58M.

M5 Networks migrated off the Broadsoft M6 platform to its own softswitch in 2010. It is a good sign for the Industry that a premise PBX maker sees the light and buys a Hosted PBX provider.

Posted in PBX, broadsoft, hosted uc, mergers, voip

Tagged: hosted pbx, mergers, UC, voip : Related Tags:

ITEXPO Day 2

February 1, 2012

Rooms have been full here at the Miami Beach Convention Center for Day 2 of ITEXPO. Stop by my session on Channel Certification at 2:30.

Posted in expo

Tagged: itexpo : Related Tags:

Day 1 at ITEXPO

February 1, 2012

I had a couple of good conversations today. One was with Greg Plum who has embarked on a new chapter in his career at StartMeeting.com. Plum is exciting about building the channel for this start-up conferencing company for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that he believes that StartMeeting.com will be a disruptor, a serious game changer in the conference space. They offer conferencing - audio and web - like so many others, right?

Posted in Marketing, PBX, VAR, agents, channel, conferencing, expo, sales and selling, training, video

Tagged: agents, asterisk, conferencing, itexpo, pbx, sales, training, VAR, video, video conferencing : Related Tags: latin america, local presence, local, america, latin

On Rad's Radar?

February 2012