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

March 2012

You are browsing the archive for March 2012.

T-Mobile Layoffs Called FCC's Fault

March 26, 2012

This makes me laugh. AT&T's SEVP for external and legislative affairs, Cicconi, wrote a post for AT&T's Public Policy blog last week that again attacked the FCC. AT&T blames any T-Mobile Layoffs on the FCC.

Really?

Yet Another Video Conf Start-up

March 23, 2012

Garrett Smith from VoIP Supply wrote, "This service isn't all that new or different from the half dozen or so that already exists. There's either going to be a lot of M&A in video communications OR a lot of companies not making it." Garrett was referring to this TechCrunch article, Blue Jeans CEO Looks To Beat His Two-Time Acquirer Cisco With Low-Cost Video Conferencing. Krish Ramakrishnan says, "It's only a $700 million market." Yet he received $23.5 million in funding already. Why?

NetWolves Wins Managed Services Deal Worth $1.9M!!!

March 23, 2012

NetWolves announced alst week that they signed a Charter School Management Group for a three-year contract worth $1.9M. This opportunity came from the Channel.

US Telecom Group, a sub-agent of PlanetOne, teamed with NetWolves to design the solution that won the deal. The solution includes an MPLS primary network as well as a backup network consisting of T-1s and cable services; all of the CPE, along with monitoring and management services, are provided by NetWolves.

The Scoop on TDMobility

March 23, 2012

I spoke with Brian Kosoy, PR manager for Tech Data, and Charles Kriete, the Executive Vice President of TDMobility. Kriete is also the founder of the company that developed some of the key technology (CellManage) in TDMobility. His company was acquired by the joint venture between Tech Data and Brightstar. TDmobility launched recently as a way for VAR's to offer cellular service - handsets, devices, netbooks, tablets, mifi - to their customer base through Tech Data. Give it a listen.

Comcast Versus Netflix

March 20, 2012

IN a Fast Company article, titled "Why Comcast Will Crush Netflix". Comcast will be launching a Netflix killer soon. Why? "The battle to own the "digital home" has been waging for years." The Duopoly does not want to be relegated to being just dumb pipes.

What a Crazy Monday

March 19, 2012

So Zayo is buying AboveNet for $2.2B.

Avaya bought RADVision for $230M. Conferencing is making a lot of noise. As David Byrd points out, "It is clear that video conferencing is growing in importance in the market....

An Interview with StartMeeting

March 19, 2012

I had a long talk with Greg Plum, new VP of Channel Development at start-up, SmartMeeting.com at ITEXPO East. He agreed to a short interview.

 

What's the special sauce for StartMeeting?

Zayo Buys AboveNet

March 19, 2012

It was a big surprise this morning to hear that Zayo bought AboveNet for $2.2B. My first thought was "Where did Zayo get the money?" I mean, the Dealbook writes, "As of Dec. 31, Zayo had about $25.9 million in cash and short-term investments, along with $682.7 million in long-term debt. It currently has a credit rating of B2." Apparently, Zayo backers and bankers went into their reserves to buy AboveNet. I guess the heady days of Bain LBO is back, thanks Mitt! (LBO is leveraged buy out).

EarthLink's Sweet Spot

March 14, 2012

I learned a few things at the EarthLink training today in Tampa. EarthLink has 175K business customers and about 3 Million consumers, most of them dial-up customers, providing $20M in free cash flow per month. So of the $1.3B in annual revenue, about $500M is dial-up. ELNK has 4 data centers - Columbia, SC; Rochester, NY; Marlborough, MA; and 55 Marietta.)

The first (or 70+ slides) shows that Pipe is the foundation for Managed Security and other services.

So Are You Going to Sell VDI?

March 12, 2012

EarthLink is just one company that hopes the Channel will embrace VDI, virtual desktop infrastructure. "IndependenceIT™ (iIT), provider of the Freedom desktop workspace, today announced at XChange Solution Provider 2012 that it has signed an agreement with EarthLink. Under the terms of the agreement, EarthLink will offer iIT's Total Freedom™ Workspace and Instant Freedom™ Workspace solutions to its customers as a part of the EarthLink's IT Services offerings." [press release]

Can Agents sell VDI?

I wrote about how there is a big difference between selling Cloud and selling Telco.

Is DSL Done?

March 12, 2012

Every time we examine the DSL field, it looks more and more barren. Now VZW has made moves to insure that it is dead.

One is the huge deal that VZW has with SpectrumCo that will result in a joint venture company that will co-market VZW with cableco partners. Basically, VZ is saying that cable wins in terrestrial broadband and we are just going to focus on wireless.

Some VoIP Moves

March 12, 2012

Craig Walker, Grand Central's co-founder, is jumping back into the VoIP space, according to his tweet (and the TechCrunch article that had to follow said tweet).

"LogMeIn's free screen sharing and online meeting service, join.me, just added free internet VoIP conferencing to make quick, ad-hoc collaboration even easier from virtually anywhere in the world. The new, free VoIP service provides join.me's millions of users with high-quality Internet calling from their PCs, Macs, iPads, and iPhones. As result, join.me's millions of users can verbally and visually collaborate with up to 250 friends, colleagues, or customers at a moment's notice." [marketwatch] AH!

Are Telcos Outside Their Delivery Zone?

March 12, 2012

The ILEC's were really good at delivering a monopoly TDM-based dial-tone product. And later got very good at T1 and T3. Was that the extent of the research that the old AT&T Labs could provide? DSL, while slower than cable modem service, does provide for good, cheap broadband, despite its limitations in distance and speed.

The Channel Will Be Driving Sales

March 9, 2012

Miller Heiman, a sales training company (with a proprietary sales technique and process), acquired Channel Enablers in Australia last September. "Indirect channels now account for the majority of revenue in many industries and is the fastest growing sales route," says Sam Reese, CEO and president of Miller Heiman. That's how we feel at the TCA, too - the Channel will drive more and more revenue every year. One of the Miller Heiman consultants, Steve Cadley, wrote me, "I am excited to share with the Channel Partner community Miller Heiman's expanded capabilities to help organizations optimize all aspects of their channel strategy.

iPad, MDM and Other News

March 9, 2012

Bandwidth.com bought DASH Carrier Services and renamed it inetwork. Apparently, inetwork is doing gangbusters in the wholesale VoIP space, the largest arbitrage space left, I would imagine. It's the new LD.  inetwork offers origination, termination, e-911, SMS and toll-free.

I Can Do It Myself

March 6, 2012

I hear this all the time: "I can do it myself!" Backup solution? No, I'll build one myself. Outsource your email? No, I can run my own email server. White-label VoIP?

ITU Wants to Control the Internet

March 4, 2012

FCC Commission McDowell is in Barcelona talking about the issue of the UN sponsored ITU wanting to control the governance of the Internet. I think we can all agree that the UN is any more efficient than any government on the planet and has even less enforcement power than the American FCC.

"We are at a crossroads for the Internet's future. One path holds great promise, while the other path is fraught with peril," stated Comm. McDowell.

What Else Are You Going to Sell?

March 4, 2012

TDM is running out of runway. Agents have already switched to selling Ethernet, MPLS and SIP Trunking. What else can they be selling?

Back-up, like Conferencing, is a cash cow that Agents just don't sell.

Where Will the Revenue Come From?

March 2, 2012

The screaming you hear is coming from execs at the global cellcos. For years we have been hearing how voice will be free. (Hasn't happened yet, but it has flat rated.) Now it seems the text messaging revenue arm is decreasing - 9% from last year globally.

According to this article, "Pinger and an explosion of smartphone messaging services -- like iMessage, BlackBerry Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber Media, Facebook Messenger and KakaoTalk -- have managed in just a few years to slash away at the important revenue that cell phone companies get from text messaging.

Churn Predicted by Social Influence

March 2, 2012

One Really Big VAR

March 1, 2012

Presidio Acquires BlueWater is the announcement.

"Presidio, Inc., a leading provider of professional and managed services for advanced IT solutions, announced today that it has acquired BlueWater Communications LLC, a provider of high-performance, holistic IT infrastructure solutions to growing companies. The senior executive team at Presidio also welcomed industry veteran, Bob Cagnazzi, CEO of BlueWater, as the new Chief Executive Officer of Presidio, Inc. effective immediately. Presidio is owned by American Securities LLC and management."

That makes for a very big VAR.

Wi-Fi Only Phone Service?

March 1, 2012

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