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Telecom Brokerage (News - Alert) Inc., or more commonly known as TBI, is a well-known master agent of telecommunications that sells services on behalf of big name providers including CenturyLink Channel Alliance, Comcast Business Class, EarthLink Business, Level 3, MegaPath, Netwolves, tw telecom (News - Alert) and Windstream.

Recently, the company’s chief strategy officer, Mike Saxby, forecasted that subagents "shopping" masters for the best commissions could be a thing of the past.

According to a Channel Partners Online piece, master agencies are continuously going after the same subagents by offering them larger commissions than their competitor but then quickly losing them when a better offer is made. However, Saxby thinks that sometime soon masters will be focusing on more important things including the support they are offered and the amount of expertise or product specialization.

In fact, it is pretty common that nowadays master agents are chosen for the back-office support they offer as well as next-generation capabilities such as mobility. This trend will become increasing popular as the cloud becomes more widely implemented, Saxby added.

Therefore, it's crucial that master agents continue to explore ways in which they can add value for example partner buy-ins and investing in new systems, facilities or experts.

In related company news, TMCnet has reported that TBI outgrew its old location and moved into a new facility. With its new headquarters located in the Cumberland Metro Office Park near O’Hare Airport in Chicago, which just happens to be less than half a mile from TBI’s former location, TBI can now utilize two conference rooms, 10 executive offices and larger areas for TBI’s back office and channel support teams.

TBI President Geoff Shepstone commented in a statement, “Moving into our new office space is a continuation of TBI’s 20-year history of growth. We are forecasting further growth in the future at a faster rate than we have experienced in the past.”