Back in 2023, I used a similar headline urging technology advisors (TAs) and technology solution distributors (TSDs) to proactively manage quiet or low-maintenance accounts – customers who pay consistently but don’t add new services. Today this message is more urgent than ever, with many critical services approaching their sunset date. Underlying carriers are accelerating network reorganizations to decommission time division multiplexing (TDM), copper infrastructure and plain old telephone service (POTS) lines. Customers that have traditional POTS or TDM circuits such as primary rate interfaces (PRIs) are receiving large rate increases and forced migration notices. Even broadband or dedicated internet access (DIA) customers are not immune since higher bandwidth or symmetrical bandwidth might be available at the same or lower cost through simple equipment upgrades. In the channel, it’s common to let embedded services stay in place. We often focus on selling to new logos and responding to our existing customers who request new solutions. If the customer isn’t asking for changes or new services, there’s little sense in rocking the boat and risking having the customer put a bid out or cancel a service they no longer need. Historically, a TA or agent with a strong customer base could expect roughly 20 percent of their customers to buy a substantial amount of new services during a 12-month period, leading to a higher average revenue per user (ARPU). The remaining customers would typically maintain their monthly recurring revenue, with a portion of the base making major upgrades every five years or so. When combined with new customer acquisition, this model can be effective. But the industry is changing, and partners must evolve to stay ahead. There is a growing need to engage with less active customers who are still using TDM, POTS or outdated internet access circuits. Local exchange carriers (LECs) are no longer prioritizing these legacy technologies, especially since regulatory maintenance obligations have expired. Further, recent mergers and acquisitions among LECs have triggered significant rate increases and service terminations – often with little notice – as new entities shut down wire centers, resulting in “walk the plank” punishing rates. For example, we were recently informed some of our aggregated PRIs would jump from $380 to $17,500 per month – all because the upstream carrier was being charged exorbitantly to maintain facilities in a closing wire center. NHC offers several cost-effective and reliable POTS alternatives including VoIP, cable POTS and wireless POTS that can be half the cost of traditional POTS with greater service reliability and redundancy. We also manage every step of the migration process for an easy transition. At NHC, we recommend contacting your customers about increasing internet bandwidth. LECs are focused on supplying internet access via a variety of fiber and wireless solutions. Cable companies are increasing bandwidth, expanding fiber access and using technology to push the limits of coaxbased broadband toward symmetrical gigabit speeds. At the same time, so called “middle mile” fiber providers are offering massive amounts of bandwidth and availability to our customers. Low earth orbiting (LEO) satellite and fixed wireless access providers are offering loop and service redundancy, while also increasing service availability. This is all great news to VARs such as NHC because we can offer more options to our TSD and TA community – enabling them to close more business. Partners should also consider discussing accessorizing internet access with inexpensive proactive network monitoring such as our STACKguard service or adding 4G/5G LTE wireless backup. The bottom line is that there is a compelling case for migrating customers away from traditional POTS and TDM services and/or upgrading them to higher internet bandwidth with proactive monitoring and redundancy. Remember: In our competitive industry, if you don’t work your base, someone else unfortunately will. o Glen Nelson is a 40-year veteran of the telecommunications industry and is co-founder, VP marketing & business development at NHC, The Communications Stack Provider and one of the largest partnerexclusive network resellers in North America. Take Care of Your Customers or Someone Else Will By Glen Nelson THE Communications STACK Provider™ 40 CHANNELVISION | MAY - JUNE 2025
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