AT&T Alliance Channel Signs PlanetOne

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PlanetOne Communications expanded its relationship with AT&T by joining the telecommunication giant’s Alliance Channel.

PlanetOne, the Scottsdale, Arizona-based master agent, added AT&T Alliance Channel to its preferred partner portfolio. The Alliance Channel joins a list of 20 companies that will enjoy special perks and visibility with PlanetOne in 2018. The members have the opportunity to join the master agent on its Tech Tour events throughout the country to highlight their offerings to partners. AT&T Partner Solutions Channel Chief Zee Hussain will attend the opening events in honor of the new business relationship.

Kevin Leonard, AT&T vice president of alternate channels and the leader of AT&T Alliance Channel, calls the deal mutually beneficial. AT&T has the offerings, and PlanetOne has the partners.

AT&T’s Kevin Leonard

“It gives PlanetOne access to AT&T products and services, and access to AT&T support structure, access to AT&T reliability and brands,” Leonard told Channel Partners. “And through PlanetOne, AT&T has access to a couple thousand more solution providers through one entry point that would be very hard to replicate without a partner like PlanetOne.”

PlanetOne has already been working with AT&T’s ACC Business program. In fact, it was billing more than $1 million per month with the AT&T division. That agreement remains, but Leonard says the overall AT&T-PlanetOne connection is deepening.

“It takes the relationship that has existed and was very good and solid and a great one with ACC (and that’s going to continue) and adds through the Alliance program an even greater step of AT&T products and integrated solutions.”

The Alliance Channel recently gave its partners the opportunity to earn commission on a residual basis, in addition to adding deal registration and simplifying partner sign-up.

Jonathan Hartman, PlanetOne’s vice president of sales, says his company has multiple new agreements in progress. The company announced a strategic alliance with Broad Sky Networks 10 days ago. Hartman says his company and its partners are ready to take advantage of an “incredible pipeline of opportunity.”

PlanetOne’s Jonathan Hartman

“The new year is off to a great start with several big deals closing and new relationships brewing, including the addition of AT&T to our Preferred Provider portfolio, which offers a growing array of the industry’s most relevant brands in the business around cloud, collaboration, connectivity, data center, mobility and networking solutions,” Hartman said.

Read comments from PlanetOne CEO Ted Schuman at the company’s final Tech Tour stop of 2017. Zee Hussain’s December interview with Channel Partners shed light on the state of ACC Business, the Alliance Channel and the rest of the company’s indirect efforts.