New wave…

Justin Blaine, managing director, Neowave

Neowave has its fingers in many pies. From fixed line to mobile, it is able to push what it calls the complete converged solution, and it is inviting all dealers and resellers to come and join the party. In fact, this company is looking for 1000 small dealers to get on board with its new converged proposition. Justin Blaine, managing director at Neowave, talks about the new wave of change…

“Mobile guys are missing a trick in the convergence space,” states Blaine. “Convergence in the marketplace is being pushed by the fixed line side, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot coming from the mobile side. More mobile guys need to move into fixed line hardware systems and ISDN, but they don’t seem to want the complexity of that.”

This means mobile dealers are not taking advantage of all the opportunities provided by converging communications, says Blaine. Yet Neowave now has its fingers in every pie, he notes, and that is what the future should be all about; many pies, many choices, and sticky, happy customers.

Going for mobile

Neowave announced at the Comms Business Convergence Summit South in October that it had signed a mobile distribution agreement with mobile network carrier, 3. The deal has been designed to push the 3 brand into the business market through a strategic partnership between the companies.

Head of business sales at 3, Paul Foley, commented on the deal: “We are pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Neowave. We’ve got a lot of innovations in the pipeline and we’re looking forward to working with Neowave as our channel to the business telecoms marketplace.”

3 is set to expand its network coverage significantly by the end of 2010, giving it one of the largest mobile networks in the UK and creating a stronger base for Neowave to push it forward into the business market. While Blaine says of the deal: “This 3 deal is what’s made mobile serious for Neowave. We want to take the 3 brand to market properly. 3 has a great network for 3G, and potentially for 4G moving forward. It has a true data network, and we can ride the crest of the wave with 3 as it becomes ever more credible in the business market.”

Neowave is dedicated 100% to the indirect channel, Blaine adds. “Our pledge is our whole function in life to support our channel, without onerous contracts and without rip-off rates. Our deal with 3 is one more step in providing the channel with a complete service.”

Fixed frenzy

Also at Convergence Summit South, Neowave announced a deal with Aastra to distribute the company’s 800 soft call control manager PBX. Under the terms of the agreement, Neowave is now marketing the Aastra 800 to the company’s reseller community.

Blaine said: “This is an excellent distribution agreement for us and our reseller partners. The Aastra 800 is an ideal comms platform for these customers, because it’s easy to implement, feature rich and includes innovative technology like DECT over IP. It is our first move into the phone system market and our reseller partners will be able to offer the Aastra 800 as a complete, ready to run telephony solution.”

Neowave has, Blaine explains, “messed around” with cellular gateway technology and airtime plans for the last seven years, but with its new deals with 3 and Aastra, “We can be all things to all men,” he states.

“Neowave is fairly unique. We can sell, install and maintain, so the mobile dealer can sell hardware and Neowave can go in and do all the installation and support the customer, but as we are 100% indirect, the dealer still owns the customer. Even a one man band mobile reseller can have a white labelled bill with fixed line and mobile on it.

“We are offering the mobile channel an opportunity to cross-sell into existing customers. You don’t need to learn a new skill set. Neowave will do all the hard work and provide the support,” remarks Blaine.

Don’t be a victim

“Be a winner, not a victim of convergence. Convergence is almost positioned more for fixed line systems. If mobile guys are just out there selling mobile, their customers are open to attack from the fixed line side; selling both mobile and fixed is an opportunity to make customers really sticky.”

Neowave is pushing its philosophy into the channel with a recruitment drive to find 1000 new small dealers to join its ranks, says Blaine. “We are looking for 1000 small agents or dealers that want to sell mobile and fixed line services, and get recurring revenues. We are doing this recruitment all through 2011.”

The company has internal expansion plans ready to roll in order to support this influx of new dealers in 2011, including field engineers for installations, tech support for Aastra and 3, and account management for new dealers.

Overall, Blaine says Neowave’s expected growth in 2011 will push it from a £3 million turnover at its financial year ended December 2010, to around a massive £11 million turnover predicted for its year end December 2011.

“These are exciting times for us,” concludes Blaine.