Compared to many industries, the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on independent telcos is relatively small. Restaurants are closed for dining. Hotels are empty. Flights are cancelled. Concerts and events are cancelled. We can and should be grateful that we work in an industry where our livelihood has not instantaneously vanished. But that doesn’t mean… Continue Reading
Strategy
Prepare your network for 2020 in 6 steps
Do you have any plans for Labor Day weekend? Back in 2011 my plans were rudely interrupted. At the time I was managing the Metaswitch support team responsible for new customer installations, commissioning and migrations. This was a fun job, but mostly fairly predictable – after all we were working on multi-month projects which followed… Continue Reading
Is Hosted PBX + Managed IT a winning strategy?
Most businesses have a choice of voice providers – including one or more local telcos and innumerable over-the-top offerings. So why do your customers choose to do business with you? For many CLECs and independent telcos, the answer is customer service. We’ve all heard the horror stories about the customer service provided by Comcast, and… Continue Reading
Wanted: some good advice from… you
I read a book recently that has been challenging my thinking. Am I too conservative as a business owner? Am I constrained by the smallness of my vision? Since I can’t afford to hire an expensive management consultant to advise me, I figured instead I’d think out loud in this article, and seek the advice… Continue Reading
Rural Telcos: The 4 big ideas you need to succeed
In a world where wire-line subscriber numbers are declining, and big national carriers can offer service anywhere, how can a local independent telephone company survive and thrive?That’s the question being asked by telecoms executives across America, and in this article we identify four key concepts that will be crucial for your future success. These ideas… Continue Reading
Local IOCs: What is your strategy?
This is the second in a series of articles applying the wisdom of Harvard Professor Michael Porter to the world of telecoms. You can read part one here. This article focuses on regional carriers – and how they can compete in today’s competitive market. The first article in this series had a lot of… Continue Reading