Channel Surfing Blog 

On Sunday, July 13, Telcombrokers staff, vendors and agents and their families gathered at Crystal Cove State Beach in Laguna Beach, Calif. Telcombrokers held the event – sponsored by PAETEC, CCI Communications, O1 Communications, DynaLink Communications and TelePacific Communications – to thank agents for their business and provide a forum for agents to build relationships with the vendor sponsors.

The four vendors and 12 agents in attendance brought their families, creating a sun-hungry crowd of nearly 100. Each beachgoer received a beach bag – with a cooler on the bottom – filled with a bucket, beach ball, T-shirt, sunscreen, chapstick and a fan. And after a day of swimming, exploring the tide pools and playing in the sand, everyone was famished and ready for a catered meal of gourmet stuffed hamburgers, slow-cooked beef ribs, rosemary and garlic BBQ chicken breasts, pineapple kabobs and ice cream sandwiches.

Telcombrokers vice president of sales, Nancy Ridge, and her husband show off their event T-shirts during dinner.

Telcombrokers agents and vendors sit down for dinner. 

PAETEC’s Lisa Sussman chats with agent Mike Nelson from Integrated Access and his wife, Angie.

Telcombrokers Sales Manager Jessica Wilson chats with Christine Michael of TelePacific Communications while Jessica’s children play in the sand.

Kelly Teal

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the FCC’s upcoming decision on Qwest’s latest unbundling forbearance petition. In fact, I had a whole other blog written until I scrapped it in favor of saying what I really, really think about the issue.

I think forbearance is a copout. I think most phone companies use it to wipe out competitors in such a way that they can appear innocent. Can’t you just picture them batting their big baby blues and simpering that it’s not their fault a CLEC had to leave the market? Look at the overexposed example of Omaha, Neb. Qwest snagged forbearance relief there in 2005 and McLeodUSA has had to pull out of the region because it can’t afford Qwest’s UNE prices. I don’t call that competition – I call that bullying.

But there might be hope. Rumor has it – on good authority – that FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is circulating a draft order to deny Qwest’s 4-MSA (Denver, Phoenix, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Seattle) request in full. This would mark the second time since the terrible Verizon “deemed granted” incident that Martin has gotten it right. The other one was the unanimous denial of Verizon’s 6-MSA petition for relief from unbundling rules. Qwest’s petition models Verizon’s failed request, which to me says there’s a precedent for rejection.

Almost no one has come out in favor of Qwest except Qwest itself and the few state officials it’s been able to sway. One public figure – Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes – has remained admirably steadfast in her opposition to Qwest’s plea. And she recently brought up a great point in an Arizona Republic article: "If Qwest believes they are selling below market cost, the remedy is to come to the commission and ask for a rate increase, not obliterate their competition," Mayes told the newspaper last month. "It is kind of telling that they have not (come to the commission)."

Bingo! I hadn’t looked at it that way, but Mayes is absolutely right. If the Bells and LECs weren’t trying to undermine competitive principles, they’d have no problem asking public utilities commissions for price hikes. That’s what every other utility does, after all. But the use of the ’96 Telecom Act’s forbearance clause lends credence to the theory that the large, entrenched carriers rely on that provision to rewrite the law in their favor.

The FCC decision is due by next week – July 26. That’s a Saturday, so we should expect a ruling any time. At any rate, my hope is that Martin and his fellow commissioners go two for two. I don’t want to get too crazy, but that would restore a little faith in an FCC that – despite the two Democrats – has been riddled with cronyism and secrecy.

P.S. Lest we think Qwest’s forbearance plea is the last we’ll see, keep in mind that Verizon has two petitions pending for Virginia Beach, Va., and Rhode Island. Whether Martin will address those requests before a new administration comes into office is unknown.

Kelly Teal

A few days ago I returned home from one of the best vacations ever. Why the best? Two reasons: a) My husband and I, along with a couple of friends, rode our motorcycles to and from southeastern Colorado, via northern Arizona, near the Grand Canyon’s North Rim; b) My Verizon cell service was spotty at best.

The latter fact initially upset me. I had zero bars our first night away, at Jacob Lake, and darn it, I am used to having my electronic communications available. Besides, Verizon touts itself as providing coverage everywhere – “It’s the Network” and “No Dead Zones,” right? To top it off, our friend Pete uses Alltel (which Verizon is buying, perhaps for this reason) and had perfect reception.

But it only took me a few minutes to appreciate that having no cell service, and just a couple of bars when I did, meant something divine: my network was sitting on the cabin balcony with me, drinking beer, telling stories, relaxing in the pines.

Too often we forgo essential human interaction in favor of the cold screen, the spare black type that conveys neither inflection nor body language. Thank you, Verizon, for failing me. For the first time in a while, I was forced to withdraw from my electronic network and revel in the purely human network. Which is what communications – and communication – are about in the first place.

Level 3 hosted in mid-June its second annual Business Partner Advisory Council (BPAC) meeting at the Level 3 campus in Broomfield, Colo.

Top Level 3 executives, including CEO Jim Crowe, spoke to the advisory council on the company’s vision and strategy, particularly around its enterprise services.

Crowe Keynote – Jim Crowe speaking to BPAC members

“Level 3 reinforced our commitment to the Business Partner Program and anticipate this to be a critical part of our growth strategy,” said Bill Steen, director of marketing and partner programs, for Level 3.

Four master agents and seven direct agents attended, including Jay Bradley, Intelisys; Jack Knocke, MicroCorp; Geoff Shepstone, TBI; Vince Bradley, WTG; Emmet Tydings, AB&T; Ron Dunworth, Advoda; Ian Kieninger, CDW; Chris Palermo, Global Communication Networks; Michael Murphy, New England Fiber; Steve Moody, Presidio; and Douglas Renner, Peak IP.

Council members attended sessions to identify ways Level 3 can strengthen its program. Areas discussed included automation, spiffs and incentives, and field support. Level 3 currently is evaluating the partner feedback, Steen said.

Along with business, the meeting included recreation. Level 3 hosted a golf outing followed by a partner dinner.

Vince Bradley, WTG, and Garrett Gee, Level 3, at the golf outing

CDW’s Ian Kieninger and Level 3’s Craig Schlagbaum at the golf outing

Steve Moody, Presidio, and David Busam, Level 3

On the second day, Level 3 hosted a dinner and E-Town radio taping concert at the Chautauqua Dining Hall and Auditorium located in Boulder, Colo.

The Level 3 BPAC dines at Chautauqua.

By Cara Sievers

When I consider putting myself in the shoes of the IT guy or gal charged with managing mobile applications and devices at any company, I have to be honest, I get a little dizzy thinking about it. It has to be like trying to shoot a moving target ... trying to maintain and control apps and handsets, and the people who use them who could be 10, a hundred or a thousand miles away.

Similar fears and challenges among SMBs and larger enterprises are causing them to stand up and take notice of offers to help manage these mobile or wireless solutions, and all of the confusing costs, plans and tariffs that come with them. Telecom expense management (TEM) providers and agents for such providers are now seeing wireless TEM solutions go from unique to ubiquitous, from optional to mandatory.

And if the idea of managing all these widely dispersed devices isn’t intimidating enough, Visage Mobile, which offers the MobilityCentral management product, recently released results of a survey, which collectively showed that proper mobility management requires not only enterprisewide programs, but also actively engaging the end users.

The survey, which was issued to almost 600 mobile users nationwide, revealed that managing mobility has expanded from an IT issue to one that affects many throughout the entire enterprise, from finance and human resources, and on to every manager and employee.

However, the data showed that the majority of employees are uninformed and disengaged when it comes to monitoring and managing their corporate-issued mobile devices. In fact, 74 percent of respondents said they do not have access to their corporate wireless bill. And not surprisingly, 80 percent of respondents are using their corporate issued mobile device for personal use. (Click here to see more results of the study.) Hey ... why not? Out of sight, out of mind, right? How can employees be expected to embrace mobile usage policies if they aren’t even really aware of their net usage? It’s like asking a child to bring his grades up but then not ever letting him see his report card.

Quite frankly, in light of all of this, I am surprised that any TEM provider would even have to work to sell wireless TEM solutions or mobility management platforms. Survey after survey shows that this market is ripe for the picking. Yes, the use of mobile phones for work is becoming more and more popular, but it didn’t just start yesterday; it’s now habit, necessary, expected and it’s not going away. Simply put, I think that unless a company has a policy AGAINST using mobile devices for work purposes – which is just plain crazy, c’mon – then it should have a formal mobility management program and solution in place. Most companies already have a wealth of moving targets bouncing about; they just need agents and TEM providers to step up and help them take aim.

To learn more about the wireless TEM market and where it’s headed, read “Air Apparent: Could Wireless be TEM’s Crown Jewel?” And check out how one agent is experiencing growth thanks to offering a wireless TEM solution in “An Advocate for Wireless TEM.”

By Khali Henderson

It seems in most industries, it gets down to two behemoth competitors. WalMart and Target. Microsoft and Apple. Home Depot and Lowes. Barnes & Noble and Borders.

While it happens over and over, we bristle at the lack of choices even as we patronize these stores. It just doesn’t seem right that there shouldn’t be other options. We applaud the Amazon.coms and the Dells that come in and shake things up – bringing innovation in features, delivery and price.

In telecoms, then, it should not surprise us that consolidation to a few giants is well on its way. Consumers probably can name the likely contenders – AT&T – for the title.

Unlike some other retail entities, these companies built their businesses on rate of return regulation for decades. Competition – bringing innovation in features, delivery and price -- had to be forced by laws and regulations, giving competitors access to those facilities the ratepayers built.

The fight over network sharing has persisted for years and is now coming to a head in the recent spate of forbearance petitions. The FCC is scheduled to issue a decision in July on whether to grant a request by Qwest to no longer be required to provide competitive carriers with just and reasonable wholesale access to its legacy Bell facilities. Qwest has asked the FCC to eliminate wholesale unbundling rules mandated by the 1996 Telecom Act in Denver, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Seattle. The FCC in December 2005 granted a similar request Qwest made for its Omaha, Neb., territory.

Of course, Verizon and AT&T are hoping for a similar relief.

COMPTEL today released a white paper that it says shows how the elimination of reasonable wholesale regulations can curb innovation and competition at the retail level.

Indeed, after Qwest got relief in Omaha, it increased the rates it charges competitors by 30 percent to 178 percent, collapsing the wholesale market there, driving out competitors like McLeodUSA (now PAETEC) that used those wholesale services, thus diminishing retail competition. The Omaha Forbearance experience shows that functioning wholesale markets do not emerge automatically when unbundling obligations are removed.

More than 75 of World Telecom Group's top agents participated in the 6th Annual WTG Tee & Sea event last weekend, May 15-17,  in sunny Malibu, Calif.

The event, which included agents' guests and WTG suppliers, hosted about 150 people in all. This was a smaller group than in year's past by design, according to WTG CEO Vince Bradley. Instead of an open invite, this year's event was an incentive for top performing sales agents as part of its 2008 PartnerPerks program.

Those selling more than $60,000 in new business were given entrance to the event. These included Top Speed Data, Litch Data, Carrier Support Group, WorldOne Communications and Touchstar Software.

Those selling more than $120,000 in new business also received paid travel. These included Alaine Fulton of Safe Haven, Mannie Galon of G2 Solutions and Roger Duncan of Tellerium.

Those agents with more than $300,000 in new business got a full ride. Top honors went to Dale Stewart of CSG and Scott Rockwell of Telco Quote.

PartnerPerks qualifiers David Bang of Litch Data, David Glendenning of CSG and Diane Hoey of WorldOne with WTG CEO Vince Bradley (middle)

The event was revamped in other ways, too. The traditional kick-off open house at WTG headquarters was scrapped for a luncheon at the The Malibu West Beach Club, followed by presentations from the event's premier sponsors (Qwest, Level3, Verizon, XO, Covad and New Edge Networks). The popular “Happy Hour on the Beach” was reprised, but combined with the Premier Provider Expo.

Partners sponsors mingle at WTG’s Happy Hour on the Beach.

The "Tee" part of the WTG Tee & Sea event was held on Friday at the The Malibu Country Club. The shotgun Golf Tournament included more than $5,000 in prizes. Mitch Krayton of Digital Resources shot a double eagle from 150 yards out - a shot that helped this normally average golfer to earn second place in the contest, Bradley said.

Top golf twosome Gary Keswick of CM Group and Matt Winterburn of XO with WTG CEO Vince Bradley (middle)

Top Foursome David Bang of Litch Data, Robert Green & Mike Luck of ICS and Ryan Wortham of ATI with WTG CEO Vince Bradley (middle)

The "Sea" part of the event also was different this year. Instead of a cruise, a Wine Pairing was held at an oceanfront restaurant.

Susan Eakle of PAETEC, Sherrie Hiller of TelePacific, Jessica Lewis of CSG, guest Lynn Durica, Susan Farraj from A+ Conferencing and Jennifer Hayes of Teleconsult enjoy the "sea."

Afterward, everyone regrouped at the 19th hole for Casino games, massage and a raffle.