RESELLER CHANNEL BRIEFS

Posted: 04/2002

Briefs

Renaissance Networks Inc. a provider of high-speed Internet services and broadband wireless network products, announced that
Mountain Telecommunications Inc. a facilities-based competitive local exchange carrier, selected the company to become one its Strategic Alliance partners.

Under the agreement, Renaissance Net-works makes MTI’s wired T1 and frame relay circuits as well as ISDN and dial-up connections available to its customers throughout Arizona and allows MTI to add high-speed Internet access to its portfolio. The alliance also allows Renaissance Networks to expand its service coverage area from the Phoenix metroplex to the majority of Arizona.

“Over the past couple of years, we have built an effective relationship with MTI,” said Jeff Clark, Renaissance Networks president and CEO. “The backbone of our Arizona network was built on MTI’s copper and fiber, making our relationship with MTI pivotal to the on-time launch of our broadband wireless service. We are now excited to have the opportunity to pass MTI’s efficiencies on to our customers.”

* Broadband service provider TelePacific Communications has expanded its resale agreement with Call Sciences to add text-to-speech and call-handling features to its Shadow Personal Assistant service, which is provided on Call Sciences’ unified communications platform. TelePacific has been a Call Sciences customer since 1998.

With the added features, TelePacific can offer Shadow Personal Assistant customers the ability to have e-mails read to them over the phone via a synthesized, near-human quality voice. Other new features include enhanced voice-mail capabilities for managing calls and faxing features. Shadow Personal Assistant also allows customers access to voice, e-mail, and fax messages via browser, telephone, PDA or fax. The new features are expected to be available in the second quarter of this year.

* Sprint Wholesale expands its IP offerings this quarter and launches DSL, Virtual ISP and direct wavelength services.

The DSL service boasts 1.5MB speeds downstream, and up to 384kbps upstream. It also comes with professional on-site installation, round-the-clock network management, a 45-day installation service level agreement (SLA) and a 99.9 percent network performance/availability SLA. DSL will be available across the country in 32 metropolitan service areas, containing 759 central offices.

Virtual ISP is a dial-up “ISP in a box.” Turnkey and private labeled, the product is available through about 400 access nodes across the country.

“If you look at what’s likely to happen this year with RBOC entry,” says Jim Steffans, director of Sprint Wholesale marketing, “if [resellers] have a dial-up IP product or DSL to supplement voice, it makes them a more viable provider in the eyes of their end customer.”

Virtual ISP also offers instant messaging, personal webpage creation, online registration, e-mail and for the reseller, end-user credit card billing. It requires little-to-no infrastructure and back office support.

Direct wavelength services also will be available this quarter, for larger carrier customers.

Steffans says Sprint will roll out the services to give resellers weapons to attack their niche markets and be successful in an era of carrier bankruptcy and stiff competition from the ILECs.

As far as Sprint’s economic health, the wholesale portfolio expansion allows the Tier 1 to gain immediate scale, says Steffans. The IP products also leverage fixed costs and let the carrier get more out of its largest existing asset-the network.