Telecom Tidbits

There have been quite a few tidbits in telecom this month. Most notably the layoffs, especially the 12,000 that AT&T let go. But PAETEC (News - Alert) and Level3 also had layoffs of 222 and 450 respectively. Some of the cuts came from the Indirect channel.

Qwest decreased the compensation to its channel program by about 10 percent, which one master agent said was “bad, but it could have been a lot worse.” The big kicker is the provision that agents can no longer get paid for renewing contracts, unless they were the original agent. That destroys some call center-based agents, who will now be looking to flip that database to other carriers. Meanwhile, SkyWi sues Qwest (News - Alert) for racketeering.

The Technology Channel Association, a non-profit trade association for indirect sales agents, has hired CMA Association Management to run the day-to-day functions of the association. This announcement coincides with the launch of the Agent Committee, consisting of Emmett Tydings of AB&T Telecom (News - Alert); Dave Wallace of Aligned Communications; Ben Henkels of CMP; Mark Adams of Total Business Solutions Communication; and Jeff Ott of Total Carrier Solutions. TCA is working on benefits for its members possibly health insurance. Join today at tcasite.org.

Is broadband quality hindering the adoption of VOIP for small businesses? Viatel, a UK VoIP specialist, surveyed 200 small businesses to find that best effort broadband often resulted in poor call quality. Agents might want to suggest either DSL bonding or pairing redundant broadband through a dual WAN router.

Is the first thing out of prospect’s mouth, “Save me money?” It probably is, which is why auditing is making a come back. TEM and auditing should help you find business.

Are your deals feeling the heat of the credit crunch? Let me know – email me at rad_info2003@yahoo.

Aastra (News - Alert) is in Tampa this week for an executive meeting as they roll out a new line of 9000 series phones.

Finally, I was a panelist on Geekazine on Ustream.tv at 7 PM Eastern on 12/15/08 to discuss tech news like Google (News - Alert) and Net Neutrality, the new Palm OS, and blunders in IT asset security. IT

Peter Radizeski is head of RAD-INFO, Inc., a consulting agency specializing in the telecom industry.

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