“The rumor on Friday turned out to be true: CenturyLink is buying Level3. CenturyLink has its roots in the RLEC business. It has acquired a number of smaller RLECs throughout the years including VZ and GTE assets. In 2002, it started making mistakes when it sold its cellular business to ALLTEL. It acquired Digital Teleport and renamed it LightCore. Every year it has acquired some assets, mainly smaller RLEC companies and the accompanying POTS lines.

In 2008, C-Link bought Embarq, formerly Sprint/United.in $11.6B deal including assumed debt. In 2010, C-Link bought Qwest which included RBOC assets that flew the US West banner. “The valuation of CenturyLink’s purchase was $22.4 billion, including the assumption of $11.8 billion of outstanding debt held by Qwest.”

In 2011, CenturyLink begins to stray from grabbing fiber and POTS lines in favor of the data center business it acquired with Qwest. Much to the chagrin of the agent channel, Savvis was scooped up for $3.2B including debt. This started a series of acquisitions to beef up a cloud business that for all intents and purposes C-Link is mired in for no reason.

The ITO Business Division of Ciber (managed services), AppFrog (PAAS), Tier3 (IAAS), Cognilytics (analytics), DataGardens (DRaaS), Orchestrate (DBaaS), netAura LLC (security services) and ElasticBox (VPS) – all scooped up in the last 3 years to make a soup out of a cloud division that it is still trying to sell. The rumor today is that Savvis will be spun off. No word if that will be just data center or both data center and cloud.

I understand that being rural and watching your CAF and USF subsidies slowly decrease makes you yearn for fatter and happier days. And when you look at Level3’s $10B in NOLs, you start to think like Carl Icahn. However, have you seen what Icahn did to XO???? Have you seen what C-Link did to Qwest and Savvis??? That husk will next be Level3.

With debt this deal will be worth about $34B to get combined revenues to $25B.

How many mergers in telecom in the last fifteen years resulted in anything good?

The integrations rarely (UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE YEAR) go as planned. These two companies probably have 26 or more separate and different software systems in the BSS/OSS. These will NEVER be integrated. Orders, status and asset availability will be a nightmare. I know. I know. You think I am a pessimist. But truly this will suck especially for the channel.

Any agent that says this is good is either (a) looking for press or (b) is delusional.

There is now less choice. When VZ takes over XO, except for Zayo, who is left that isn’t a LEC or cableco? What happened to the CLEC industry? Totally collapsed as its owners cashed out. Everyone got bigger and no one got better. One by one they have fallen.

Here is another issue.. lack of focus; deficient long term strategy; and a missing willingness to win the customer. It’s all about the creation of value without actually creating any value.

Since the Board will almost stay intact and the CEO remains, what new gen strategy or thinking do you think will occur with the combined entity? I get why the L3 CFO is staying: someone has to keep that debt at bay and play with the NOLs so that the stock doesn’t crash when revenues start to slide.

I won’t even get into the culture differences between the 2 companies. L3 and TWT had only slightly different cultures but most of the TWT people exited. This is a good payday for L3 CEO but he will go down as the guy who killed a good idea. The livelihood of thousands of employees and agents are on Story’s head.”

Lets hope and pray for those thousands of employees that this works out.

Trivatech Group.

888-352-6563

www.trivatechgroup.com

 

 

Exciting Development!!  Metro Wireless offers last mile fiber services for businesses throughout Michigan. These services start at 10Mbps and go all the way to 10Gbps. Contact us today for more information.                                      And                                   Introduce   Grand Rapids Fiber at Remarkable Pricing!!  $799 100 MBPS  $1499 1G 24 month contract minimum. Subject to final approval from MWI management and pending a sitewalk. We reserve all rights to modify, change or deny all claims that we feel are not valid.  Learn More, follow our link and request a quote! www.trivatechgroup.com Expanded Fiber Footprint Available Metro Wireless offers last mile fiber services for businesses throughout Michigan. These services start at 10Mbps and go all the way to 10Gbps. Contact us today for more information. Contact us today for more information. Trivatech Group. 888-352-6563 www.trivatechgroup.com

Trivatech Group is excited to announce it has partnered with Metro Wireless!! Among many of the great announcements to come here is just a little teaser!

 

Reliable and Secure Backup Internet for Businesses – 4G Business Nationwide MetroLTE – Single IP failover, one of the fastest and most versatile ways to enable feature rich Ethernet services for a variety of applications! Primary, Backup, Construction, Temporary, Mobility/Fleet, you can now operate in remote areas or where services are limited from congestion. Superior uptime, great versatility, low cost and less points of failure with the Metro Wireless LTE.

Contact us today to find out about this exciting venture and what it means for your organization!!

Trivatech Group.

888-352-6563

www.trivatechgroup.com

 

 

“What is an Independent Telecom Consultant? It has variations as Agent, Consultant and Specialist, but at the end of the day the Independent Telecom Consultant is hired by the customer to find them the best solution available for their business.

At the heart of our business is the vision that our clients will be with us for life. Unwavering Customer Care, doing what’s right for the client, and immense product/industry knowledge are what we have used as the foundation of Trivatech Group.

Here are the Top 3 Reasons to use a Telecom Consultant..

One, it’s one-stop shopping which saves you time and money! We have contacts with many carriers/vendors which means we can quickly acquire the quotes and information that you need – without you having to request them yourself by filling out online forms and repeating the requirements over and over.

Two, product and industry knowledge. The sales rep from Company A isn’t going to tell you that it has excessive billing issues and Company B’s rep isn’t going to tell you that the network in your area sucks or that the product is so new (or old) that delivering it to your satisfaction is not going to happen. Trivatech Group has that information.

If the customer cares about speedy delivery and less cost, then the we can eliminate looking at the operators that don’t own network there or who have provisioning hurdles.

Three, we have the right tools to provide you with the right solution for now and later.

We ask all the right questions to elicit the necessary information to choose not the expected answer, but the best solution.”

Trivatech Group.

888-352-6563

www.trivatechgroup.com

 

 

“Understanding the Telecom and Data business

The key to making a good decision is in how the telecommunications and data business works.

A point to make here is that the provider contracts with your company to provide a certain suite of services at a certain level of performance.  Many terms and conditions of newer contracts with providers are listed on a web page, how easy is it for the carrier to change the terms ?

And what about carriers consolidating and merging ?  Will your direct representative be with that carrier in 3 months ?  A year ?

How about care for you after the sale ?

Is it a local office ?  A call center ?

Can the direct carrier representative actually assist you, or do they get paid once to sell and move on ?

 

The Truth

Carrier direct representatives likely will not be employed for more than 18 months. You are left with a contract and no advocate to assist you. Most likely a  call center out of state and an 800 number to reach a cryptic system where you punch in your account number and then have to repeat yourself 3 times to get an answer, and usually they will insult you and claim the problem is on your end of the connection.

How can a prospective client sort through 3 or 4 providers information and make an educated decision about a provider at contract renewal time ?

Well frankly you can dedicate the next few weeks to research, study and reviewing terms and conditions, service level agreements (SLA) and calling current clients of the prospective vendors. Or just call an independent consultant in your area.

The Solution

Call an independent telecom consultant, who knows the available providers, the services available and negotiates many telecom contracts every year.

Telecom consultants are experts,  and with all the change in the carrier space, consultants  have  direct connections to carriers.   Many clients just like you who turn to telecom consultants for answers, recieving a live local response to their needs.

Independent telecom consultants work for you.  When  hired they are  paid to assist you and to make sure you receive what you are paying for.  In many cases the independent consultant will not get paid unless your services are installed and invoices continue to be paid.

Telecom consultants are paid to assist you today, and when it’s contract renewal time.  Independents are responsive, timely and know each and every carrier that is available for you to choose from.

In many cases they search for 3-5 quotes to source your services.  They continue to earn your business every month when you pay your invoice.  In addition the independent consultant will analyze your needs BEFORE suggesting a certain product or service.”

Why Not ?

Why not try buying your products and services the smart way ?

Trivatech Group.

888-352-6563

www.trivatechgroup.com

This week in history two things happened that put us on the path to where we are today.

“October 17, 1907

Guglielmo Marconi officially opens the first commercial transatlantic wireless telegraph service, which runs between Nova Scotia and Ireland.” This was a Morse code transmission which is still taught to certain military personnel.

“October 13, 1983

Ameritech Mobile Communications executive Bob Barnett makes a phone call from a car parked near Soldier Field in Chicago, officially launching the first cellular network in the United States.” He called the great grandson of Alexander Graham Bell using a Motorola DynaTAC mobile phone.

It’s amazing how far technology has taken us. Let us help you put these advances to work for you, and your organization.

Upload a copy of your invoice today and put Trivatech Group to work for you.

Trivatech Group.

888-352-6563

www.trivatechgroup.com

 

thisdayintechhistory.com

“Telecom carriers have over 100 years of setting the rules under which rates will be determined… In their favor! And once you understand the rules, they move the goal posts! Here’s how to take control of the game.

Understand your traffic patterns and what you spend better than they do.                  Many people rely on their carrier to tell them what to do. This is ill-advised and reflects laziness on the part of the person making the determination. Given the choice, a telecom carrier will always sell you a gold plated Mercedes, whether you need it or not, on a 50 year lease, which only increases in cost every year, that you can never get rid of, even after the wheels have long fallen off. Don’t fall for this trap. You make the rules. It’s your money!

Package your services into something that you can explain to the carrier market in their terms.                                                                                                                                          Measure service by origination, type, distance, and per unit expense. Roll it all up from perfect granularity to absolute 100,000 foot (30,480.0 m) level.

Identify the minimum level of service that is required to meet the needs of your organization.                                                                                                                                            This doesn’t mean cheap, it means that the combination of services you buy should exactly meet your needs, being neither greater than, or less than your needs. You don’t need to pay for widgets you can’t use, and you don’t want your users to go without services which are critical to the success of your business.

Identify the carriers that provide service in the locations where you originate a need for service.                                                                                                                                        For instance, it doesn’t matter if XYZ carrier has nationwide service to major cities, if your main city is not on their list. Get market comps from reliable sources. The carriers may be telling you the best rate is a nickel, while other may be paying a penny, and they will never enlighten you beyond that which they need to. Other top performing end users probably have the best rate information, which you can informally exchange. Be sure not to just look at the leading rates that are generally followed, but look at the entire list of services. Recognize that the largest companies with the highest volume do not necessarily pay the best rates. They often suffer from ossified contracts that have been carried forward after far too many “good guy deals” have been cut. Carriers will always be quick to cite others who are paying more money than you are. Don’t worry, they only cite the higher ones, keeping the ones getting a good deal private.

Invite every carrier to compete for your business that has even the slightest chance of winning your business.                                                                                                                      Even if its just a single circuit. The more the better. Don’t invite carriers who you wouldn’t seriously consider giving business to, which is called using “stalking horses.” If you do this, the market won’t respect you. Don’t give any one carrier any advantage that every other carrier is not getting. Make it fair. Use a level playing field. Make everyone compete using the same information, released at the same time, and under the same rules. Don’t give anyone more time than you could perform within. Open the information from all of the carriers in private, sharing it with the minimum number of internal people required to do the work. The more people that know of your internal influences, the more they will share it with the market, and not to your benefit.”

We do all of this time consuming measuring and negotiating on your behalf.

Upload a copy of your invoice and put us to work for you.

Trivatech Group.

888-352-6563

www.trivatechgroup.com

 

wikihow

It is time to upgrade to the SERVICE and SPEED you need and deserve!         Upload a copy of your telecom and data invoice and let us show you SAVINGS, and FASTER SERVICE!

10Mbps Starting at $360 per month.                          

20Mbps Starting at $485 per month.

30Mbps Starting at $523 per month.

40Mbps Starting at $561 per month.

50Mbps Starting at $587 per month.

60Mbps Starting at $612 per month.

70Mbps Starting at $675 per month.

80Mbps Starting at $702 per month.

90Mbps Starting at $723 per month.

100Mbps Starting at $740 per month.

Add optional voice!! 23 call paths starting at $155!!!

Contact Trivatech Group to find out how.

888-352-6563

www.trivatechgroup.com

Terms and conditions may apply to services and pricing.

“Networking and communications are a crucial part of the overall IoT business solution, even if they are likely to represent only a fraction of the cost of IoT projects. Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication services are mature and have been around for years; however, not all providers are equipped to deal with the complexities introduced by IoT. Elements that influence the cost and choice of service providers include:

• The number of endpoints covered by the communication services
• The volume of data transmitted
• The networking technology adopted — standards are evolving, and new and cheaper options are becoming available
• The geographical spread — add-on services to coordinate initiatives that span across multiple geographies are starting to emerge
• The disaster recovery capabilities
• Signaling
• Communication gateways for initiatives involving multiple, nonhomogeneous endpoints
• Billing requirements
• Reliability and SLAs on latency or other characteristics on the service

Service providers are increasingly broadening their offerings to include adjacent services, such as device and system management, application management, security management, analytics and reporting, and program and financial management. Some of these activities overlap with other opex in our budgetary list.

Downtime

As complex as this may be, organizations should think what the cost of downtime for their IoT projects would be to determine the risk of investing in the initiative.

Incremental Value of IoT Initiatives

At times, the full potential of your IoT project will be realized incrementally over several implementation phases, beginning with the benefits that result from the more-localized capabilities that are subsequently expanded via ever-tighter integration with back-end systems and data. This needs to be considered, as organizations try to determine the cost and ROI of their initiatives.”

We can help you figure these costs and realize your ROI.

Contact us today.

Trivatech Group.

888-352-6563

www.trivatechgroup.com

 

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