Explaining his decision to ‘cross the floor’ and partner with BT Matt Riley, daisy CEO, said: “We realised that to align daisy’s award-winning customer service with BT Wholesale’s access to one of the best networks in the UK would enable us to deliver some formidable communications solutions”.
“We can offer our resellers competitively priced minutes, carried over, what I believe is the best network in the country and deliver peace of mind for our customers. With highly competitive rates, no CPS or ‘slippage’ charges and WLR3 being introduced over the next three years it is, quite simply, a winning formula for us and our resale partners.”
Riley made his feelings clear about Local Loop Unbundling which is heralded as the answer to faster broadband speeds and enhanced performance.
He said: “It is without doubt the direction in which telecoms is headed, but at the moment it is a residential product and not suited to the business market in which we operate. It is an offer that only supports single analogue lines and transfers have to take place during working hours, which means an unjustifiable period of downtime for business customers.
If a fault occurs, it is unclear who is to blame, connection charges are high, there are no like-for-like transfers and network coverage does not compare to BT. I could go on, but my comments all point to one conclusion; it is simply not ready.”
Nigel Scott, BT Wholesale’s general manager of industry consultation explained to the 80 resellers gathered at BT Tower what 21CN would mean to them, “21CN is not simply a network transformation, it is a radical overhaul of BT’s business systems, providing a single unified IP network.
People often question what work is being done as they have seen little physical evidence of the transformation taking place. But while the work to date has been very much behind the scenes, over 40% of the core infrastructure has already been implemented.
We are working closely with communications providers, manufacturers and industry bodies to test systems, services and customer equipment to ensure they are compatible with the next generation network. As you would expect with such a radical change, customer experience during migration to 21CN is paramount.”
Daisy say they will be keeping their resellers informed on the progress of 21CN as the network changes evolve.
Riley also used the opportunity to launch an exclusive offer open only to those there on the day, before guests were escorted to the 34th floor, where they enjoyed a buffet lunch in the revolving restaurant, while admiring stunning views of London.
Mark Hickey, daisy’s director of sales, concluded, “The event could not have been better. There are a lot of unanswered questions regarding the way the telecoms industry is heading at the moment and with that comes scepticism.”
Reseller Comment
Paul Mosley, of Main-tel Ltd, said he was ‘greatly impressed by the event’. “It really was superb and we think there are some exciting times ahead with daisy. I have never heard of any offer like that launched today and it is one we will be taking up. It provides an ideal opportunity for resellers to sign up with a renowned and respected company and feel the benefits immediately. A lot of resellers who currently deal with other providers were talking enthusiastically about the offer and talked about the possibility of switching their business to daisy in the future.
I think the choice of BT Wholesale as a supplier is proof that daisy is serious about becoming number one in the telecoms marketplace and we certainly won’t be looking elsewhere - we’re with them for the long-term.”
Comment:
If you can’t beat them – join them? Riley is no fool and it looks like he has recognised that in order to further grow his business he needed to work with a large scale operator. They don’t come any bigger than BT and he seems to have his channel partners on his side.