Telcoinabox invests heavily into network upgrade

Media release
31 October 2012

Telcoinabox invests heavily into network upgrade which extends into New Zealand
• The network has been upgraded with Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) capability which extends into New Zealand
• 60 new retail service providers join, including in New Zealand
• Extended carrier agreements with Telstra and signed new carriers AAPT and Soul
• New products and plans launched increasing service providers’ customers choices

Full-service telecommunications wholesale aggregator, Telcoinabox has spent the last 12 months gearing for growth to service the escalating demand among individuals and non-traditional telecommunications businesses to become their own telco.

The company has invested over $1 million in network and systems upgrades, new product launches and hiring 20 new staff at the Australian and New Zealand Operations Centre (ANZOC) to meet the demand.

Customer acquisition
Over the past year 60 new retail service providers have signed with Telcoinabox to become their own phone company, half of which were ex-telco dealers.

“Telco dealers need just as much telco specific infrastructure support as any start-up or non-traditional telco starting out in the industry,” says Telcoinabox CEO Damian Kay.

“Telco dealers are used to selling plans for other carriers and now they can own their own customer. We have replicated that model as close as possible to allow them to do what they do best – sell,” he adds.

The model simplifies their business operations as they can turn to a ‘one-stop-shop’ provider that manages the relationships with carriers and supplies a complete end-to-end back office solution, including customer support, billing and provisioning.

The other new retail service providers that have signed with Telcoinabox this year include a mix of systems integrators, managed service providers and existing businesses with large customer bases looking to add telecommunications to their businesses.

The micro-acquisition strategy that was launched early 2011 to help Telcoinabox’s existing customers grow their businesses through acquisition has taken an unexpected twist this year.
“We are pleased to announce that some of our takeover targets have opted to become Telcoinabox retail service providers instead.

“It says a lot when an existing retail service provider changes supplier relationships and migrates their billing system to ours.

“In our view this is a strong indicator that the market acknowledges the profit-making potential in creating a business in telecommunications. We appreciate that NBN has a lot to do with this trend,” said Telcoinabox CEO, Damian Kay.

Systems upgrade and new contract signings
The company’s largest internal infrastructure development project is now complete. The network has been upgraded with Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) capability and has now been extended into New Zealand allowing Telcoinabox to offer advanced Trans-Tasman telco solutions.

In addition, the network capacity is now quadrupled increasing the support for thousands of new customers.

Fixed line and DSL bundles have also been launched to the Australian market which are competitive against unbundled local loop (ULL), Line Spectrum Sharing (LSS) and naked DSL offerings.

New agreements have been signed with Telstra to resell Telstra’s new wholesale products including 3G Mobile and business grade SHDSL. This will be launched to service providers next week.

Telcoinabox has also signed agreements with new carriers last month, AAPT, to supply Midband Ethernet, including IPLine (internal business lines) and Elines (external business lines) and Soul to supply to Ethernet First Mile (EFM).

“By adding new carriers to our wholesale carrier mix allows us to broaden our product profile as well as give retail service providers’ customers more choice to pick and choose the best product mix that fits their telco needs and price points,” says Mr Kay.

This month new Optus mobile plans were launched along with wireless broadband. Telcoinabox will announce more carrier deals later this year.

ANZOC currently has 80 staff members to support the infrastructure and its system developments, manage service providers and relationships with carriers.
About Telcoinabox Established in 2002, Telcoinabox is a telecommunications wholesale aggregator which provides an end-to-end ‘in-a-box’ solution to 160 individually branded retail service providers (RSP) across Australia and New Zealand. Customers include start-ups, system integrators, managed service providers and non-traditional telcos that want to add telecommunications to their existing businesses. Telcoinabox manages the relationships with carriers (Telstra, Optus, AAPT, Soul, Engin and NBN) on behalf of its customers - the RSPs - and provides telecommunications products (fixed line, mobile and data) and white-label back-office services including customer support, billing and provisioning. By outsourcing to Telcoinabox RSPs are free to focus on marketing, sales and account management. www.telcoinabox.com.au

© Scoop Media