AT&T Gives Channel Programs Multi-Gig Fiber Speeds

CHANNEL PARTNERS CONFERENCE & EXPO, LAS VEGAS — AT&T Partner Solutions (a CP Expo Channel Champion sponsor) has made multi-gigabit fiber speeds available for all of its channel program members to sell.

Partners in AT&T’s Alliance Channel, Partner Exchange and ACC Business programs can sell the company’s 2 GB and 5GB speed tiers. Executives also said AT&T is expanding self-service tools to assist with operations.

AT&T announced 2 GB and 5 GB fiber internet plans back in January. The carrier last month said it would provide the speeds in seven new fiber metro areas by the end of the year.

Sarita Rao, president of AT&T’s integrated and partner solutions, said the channel stands to profit from fiber growth.

AT&T’s Sarita Rao

“With the explosive growth of fiber, there is enormous opportunity for our indirect sales channels and multi-gig speeds unlock even more possibilities,” Rao said. “We are uniquely positioned to meet the needs of companies seeking a highly, reliable network that is designed to manage larger amounts of data.”

According to AT&T, the carrier has now made 2 GB and 5 GB speeds available for approximately 675,000 buildings containing more than 2.75 million business are lit with AT&T fiber.

Partner Perspectives

Ross Artale is president and chief operating officer Spectrotel. Spectrotel recently won a “Strategic Mover” award for the AT&T Partner Exchange reseller program.

Spectrotel’s Ross Artale

“Connectivity is king. It is the catalyst to driving all the exciting over the top revenue,” Artale said. “AT&T’s multi-gig speeds will improve customer experiences, from getting to the cloud, improving video quality, processing critical business transactions, and just about any other use case you can think of. We are excited to bring these new speeds to market for our enterprise customers.”

Kyle Duncan serves as president of DYN Consulting.

“With the launch of multi-gig, our market opportunity has increased significantly. We are excited to have this expanded offer with AT&T that competitors cannot get close to,” Duncan said.

“We are the premier provider of choice for our solution providers’ connectivity needs and our growing fiber network lays the foundation for the future,” Rao said. “With companies using more data, more applications and services than ever before, highly available connectivity has never been more important.”

Rao talked about her goals for AT&T’s channel in a recent interview with Channel Futures.

AT&T operates in the channel through three main models. Reseller-focused Partner Exchange lets the solution provider own the entirety of the customer life cycle. ACC Business partners sell in a non-teamed fashion and earn residual commissions. Alliance Channel lets partners team or not team with direct sales while AT&T handles billing, contracting and support.

Rao, a multi-decade member of AT&T, moved into the AT&T Partner Solutions organization two years ago.