Peter : On Rad's Radar?
Peter
| Peter Radizeski of RAD-INFO, Inc. talking telecom, Cloud, VoIP, CLEC, and The Channel.

bellsouth agent

The Channel Has Changed, Have You?

March 4, 2016

In 1999, the telecom channel was mainly agents and inter-connects, primarily selling voice. When I went to Orlando for BellSouth product training on Orange Avenue, most agets weren't interested in Frame Relay or ATM or DIA.

Today, it is a hot mix of partners selling a broad spectrum of products. There are still grey haired T1 slingers at the shows, but there are new partners in the mix (which have been labeled "Born in the Cloud").

Would You Hire That Way?

March 11, 2014

Lately, watching service providers (vendors, carriers, cloud providers - heretofore referred to as SPs) go to channel has been like watching either a reality tv show or a car crash. The way SPs approach the channel looks unplanned.

MessageBroadcast was in and out of the channel in less than a year. I don't know how you think you will get traction and sales that fast from zero.

AT&T: Transform from Agent to Provider

March 3, 2014

AT&T has a new channel program that isn't really a channel program so much that it is a wholesale program. (I wrote about it when I first heard about it back in September.) The Emerging Markets Program requires that the channel partner have a NOC and billing system.

What a few AT&T partners couldn't figure out is how the channel partner can sell VoIP, transport and Internet Access without a CLEC license. Well, in many states those services can be sold without a CLEC license.

If I Was Starting as an Agent Today

February 14, 2014

Yesterday the TCA launched "The Voice of the Agent" Webinar Series to provide advice for channel partners by agents. It was good content from the panelists - Michael Bremmer of TelecomQuotes.com; Evan Gillman of TransitBroker.com in NYC; and Jeff Sumner of Corporate Technologies Group. TCA board member, Nick Enger of ATC moderated the panel. [BTW, these are free to members and are archived on the TCA website.

No More TDM

October 2, 2013

In an effort to speed up the adoption of IP-based voice services (like SIP trunks and VoIP), AT&T has stopped compensating Agents for TDM. No more POTS lines or PRI's, folks.

It's funny that this happens now because I have been trying to get an order in for 3 weeks for a PRI in rural Texas. It only took 3 weeks for SBC's division of AT&T to say, "We can't port those numbers.

Verbal One Year Contracts

July 31, 2012

ATT has verbal one year contracts available. New service ordered within a few minutes for clients via an Authorized Solution Provider (agent). [This has to be for really simple stuff like POTS and DSL.]

However, ATT doesn't send any TAC (terms) or even welcome information to the customer. There is also a failure to mention that the verbal contracts auto-renew for 2 additional one year terms; thus, it's really a 3 year agreement!

Agent Exclusivity

June 26, 2012

There is a lot of talk in the Channel about Agent exclusivity to Master Agencies. Most of the talk is from Masters.

Telecom is an industry of short memory. We forget everything.

We forget that MCI left many agents high and dry when they filed the largest BK in history (up to that time).

We forget that telecom companies have a history of BK - Cogent, Above.Net, MCI, XO, Integra, Williams, Global Crossing, Birch, MacLeod, Winstar, Adelphia, Covad and the other DLEC's (see here and here and here).





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.

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.

We're Sorry

September 7, 2010

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