Carrier Channel: Qwest Wholesale Under New Management

Posted: 8/2003

Qwest Wholesale Under New Management

By Khali Henderson

Teresa Taylor

Qwest's Wholesale Markets Group is under new management -- again. Teresa Taylor, the third executive vice president for the operating unit in less than a year, told PHONE+ the change-up is by design. CEO Dick Notebaert's design to be exact. His strategy, she explains, is to cross-train his executive management team so they have an understanding of all parts of the business.

Taylor, for example, most recently was executive vice president for Qwest's Products and Pricing Group where she was responsible for the portfolio of products and services offered to consumer, retail business and wholesale customers. Now, Pat Engels, her predecessor in the Wholesale Markets Group, holds that position. Engels, a former vice president at EDS Corp. and former president and CEO of directory operations at SBC Communications, held Qwest's top wholesale post for about six months. She replaced wholesale industry veteran Gordon Martin, who resigned in August 2002 after less than a year on the job.

Taylor, who came aboard in April, is putting her product experience to work right away, she says, noting the rollout of a direct Internet access/CPE bundle scheduled for a late June release. Also in the works are an integrated voice and data T1 product and an integrated "three-way" (integrated T1 with local) product that will be offered in-region as soon as the FCC grants Qwest's long-distance authority. The company already may provide long-distance service in 12 of the 14 states in its territory. Taylor says the group is aiming to roll out the service by the end of the summer.

She says receiving long-distance authority does not affect Qwest's commitment to the wholesale channel. "All long-distance relief does is give me another product to offer my wholesale customers," she says, noting that early conversations with customers indicate they are anxious to have another source of supply.

In her short stint at the helm, Taylor, a 19-year veteran of the telecom industry, already has attended an industry trade show and had many one-on-one meetings with wholesale carrier customers. "The No. 1 thing I heard was that we are still too hard to do business with," she says, and notes her priority will be to streamline the process for customers -- from provisioning to contracts to dispute resolution.

One example of that effort is the extension of the company's Remote Control, Web-based provisioning, order entry and reporting tool, to include more of Qwest's products. Currently it supports toll-free, Qwest metro private line, domestic private line, switched +1, toll-free and calling card services. Dedicated Internet access also is supported by other data services being phased in through 2004. Taylor says features will be added in a continual stream of improvements designed to minimize the manual touch points with the customer.

Wholesale is one of three top priorities for Qwest, says Taylor, who notes the others are consumer and retail business markets. From a revenue standpoint, wholesale is the smallest contributor, she says. Due to restatements that involve the company's accounting for IRUs, revised data on its contribution to the company's overall revenue are not yet available, Taylor adds. Previously, the company reported Wholesale Markets Group accounted for $4 billion and about 25 percent of the company's revenue.

"Wholesale really is a necessary distribution channel for us, not one that we have because we are required to," Taylor says. She adds most growth in wholesale comes from unregulated markets.