Telecom Mergers – What Does It Mean for You?

May 1, 2017
Brenda Eisenschenk

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR!

As I rolled out of bed and stepped outside to get the paper this morning, there was snow on the ground.  Snow on May Day?  But, my flower beds are all cleaned out and the lawn has been mowed.  This crazy weather is trying to change back to winter.

Reminds me of all the changes that are going on in the Telecom industry!

Our team just returned from Las Vegas where we attended the annual Channel Partner Show.  In nearly every vendor meeting, we were surrounded by industry changes.

Electric Lightwave (commonly known as Integra Telecom in the Minnesota market) was sold to Zayo and Allstream.  The network side of the house was sold to Zayo and the voice side will be supported by Allstream.  Zayo is excited about the west coast presence with completion of the sale.  Allstream is a Canadian owned national communications provider that works exclusively with Business Customers.  We had an opportunity to meet up with their team and are confident that our customers will be taken care of with this transition.

http://www.zayo.com/

http://www.allstream.com/

Centurylink is acquiring Level 3 and just two days ago they announced the new leadership team that will lead this $23 billion acquisition.  Centurylink has divided into three groups in preparation for this merger; consumer, enterprise, and IT & Managed Services.

http://www.crn.com/news/networking/300084713/centurylink-announces-new-leadership-team-to-follow-the-level-3-acquisition.htm

TDS has made a decision not to sell to new customers in the Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan markets.  What does this mean?  They still have a team and will still support their existing clients, but if you don’t already have TDS and wanted to switch to them, you are out of luck for the time being.

Toshiba’s Telecommunications System Division (the phone equipment side) has notified their dealers of their shut down, allowing for a small window for dealers to ramp down.  It’s unfortunate as the Toshiba phone system was a great fit for the small to mid-size business market

The merger with Charter, Time Warner Cable and Bright House is now complete.  Welcome to Spectrum, a name which most of our business clients have been seeing for a couple of years already as they prepared for the final stages of their merger.

Through all these changes, one thing has remained a constant.  InteleCONNECT and IWM are still here to support you with all your wired and wireless needs!  We are your locally owned, national telecom brokers.  Sure, we have moved to a new office this last month and are growing our staff with the addition of a Customer Service Rep, but our changes mean we will be here to meet your needs today, tomorrow and long into the future!

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