master agency

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).

Posted in agents, bellsouth agent, channel, commissions, master agency

The Mobile Master Agent

July 2, 2012

There is a lot of chatter in the Channel about Transactional agents being replaced by VAR's and Consultative Agents. I see Master Agents having to do a similar dance real soon.

Tech Data is one of the largest VAD (value added distributors) in the world. Most VAR's have an account with TD to buy hardware.

Posted in VAR, agents, cellular, cloud computing, master agency, mergers, mobile, xo

The Alternate to Cloud

August 15, 2012

For Agents that just don't want to go cloud, there are some alternatives. In my latest book, SELLECOM 2: Selling Cloud Services, there are a few products that Agents can sell that still fall inside the Replacement services umbrella. T1, broadband, cellular, voice are all replacement services for the transactional agent. That road is bumpy.

Posted in TEM, VAR, agents, channel, conferencing, email, master agency, mobile, sales and selling, sip trunking

What's Happening?

August 24, 2012

Broadview Networks filed bankruptcy, albeit a pre-packaged debt reduction plan.

CenturyLink and Mediacom join the broadband cap club. Mediacom has a low end cap of 150 GB. Ouch! For cable companies, metering and caps are about preserving the TV money, but telcos should be cap free.

Posted in FCC, Internet, broadband, cableco, master agency, mobile, spectrum, startup

Microcorp Partners with TDMobility

November 5, 2012

Big announcement out of Atlanta this morning at the Microcorp One-on-One: Microcorp, amaster agency, has partnered with TDMobility. The agreement between TDMobility and Microcorp will provide the 60,000 TD Resellers with the ability to offer a comprehensive portfolio of voice, data and cloud solutions through Microcorp's long-standing relationships with 50+ carriers. Details to follow.

This is a big announcement for both companies. TD already had a direct relationship with XO. It wasn't going stellar.

As I have written previously, TDMobility was one-step from being a master agent. This was the baby step closer. We will see how this works out for both parties.

Posted in VAR, agents, master agency

More on the Microcorp and TDMobility Deal

November 6, 2012

Microcorp announced a deal with TDMobility (here and here). I have written about TDMobility before (most recently here and before), where I proposed that it would be a small leap for TDMobility to become a master agency. Instead, TDMobility teamed up with a master agent, Microcorp, instead.

Tech Data already has a direct relationship with XO.

Posted in VAR, cellular, master agency

News Items for Your Viewing Pleasure

November 26, 2012

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving break. Thanks for reading my stuff! I appreciate it. A bunch of news items for your consumption.

Good Technologies sues AirWatch and MobileIron over patent and marketing infringements.

Posted in master agency, mobile, privacy, security

Everything is Changing, No One is Happy

January 25, 2013

Belkin is buying Linksys from Cisco, who is exiting the consumer business. What are they doing with the Scientific Atlantic set-top boxes?

Logitech is dumping some of its product lines as it re-vamps.

Andy says that Yahoo! Voice is shutting down.

Posted in VAR, agents, channel, cloud computing, commissions, master agency, sales and selling, telco

On Rad's Radar?

master agency