36 CHANNELVISION | 2026 TSD DIRECTORY Power Play Inside the AireSpring-Spectrotel merger and what it means for partners In April, AireSpring and Spectrotel announced plans to combine their organizations to create a scaled, channel-first managed network services platform backed by Charlesbank and Grain Management. The transaction brings together complementary strengths in global connectivity, managed services, network infrastructure and AI-driven network intelligence to better serve the evolving needs of distributed enterprise customers. ChannelVision spoke with Spectrotel CEO Ross Artale and AireSpring Co-Founder Avi Lonstein about the strategic rationale behind the combination, the opportunities it creates for partners and their visions for the future of the combined organization. ChannelVision: Tell us about your decision to merge the two organizations and what makes it a strategic fit. Ross Artale: With customer environments becoming more distributed, global and complex, partner expectations also are rising as they look for an organization that can provide the necessary suite of connectivity solutions. We saw an opportunity to form an even stronger platform by bringing Spectrotel and AireSpring together, which merges two leading providers with highly complementary strengths. Spectrotel has built a leading position in distributed enterprise networking and managed services, while AireSpring provides global connectivity, a nationwide facilitybased fiber network, geo-redundant voice infrastructure and deep technical expertise. Together, we are positioned to serve a broader range of customer segments, from SMB and mid-market through complex, distributed enterprise environments, with a more comprehensive, scalable platform and greater control over network performance, resiliency and service delivery. Having spent the last three decades in this industry, I’ve had a front row seat to what works and what does not in a combination of this kind. That experience is shaping how we approached this from day one – with a clear strategic thesis and a disciplined integration plan that will minimize disruption for our customers, partners and team members. Avi Lonstein: We built AireSpring with a long-term commitment to the channel and a belief that partners deserve a provider fully aligned with their success. As we evaluated this opportunity with Spectrotel, it became clear that our organizations shared a very similar vision around customer experience, channel commitment, managed services and innovation. This combination brings together highly complementary strengths. AireSpring contributes a global connectivity platform, nationwide facility-based fiber assets, geo-redundant voice infrastructure, deep engineering expertise, and our AI-powered AIreCONTROL ITSM platform, while Spectrotel adds strong capabilities in distributed enterprise networking and managed services. CV: Both organizations are known for providing exceptional customer support. How will you preserve the customer experience as you bring these two organizations together? RA: Maintaining the exceptional service we provide for our customers and partners is our top priority at every stage of the integration process, and we are being very deliberate about what that means in practice. First and foremost, across both organizations, engineering, NOC, customer service, project managers, service delivery managers, account managers and channel managers will remain in place to support customers and partners, ensuring they receive solutions and level of support. We are purposefully taking an approach that is thoughtful and measured in pace, as we do not want to disrupt what is working. Beyond preserving our existing level of support, we see a real opportunity to enhance the experience. Our combined platform will advance beyond traditional monitoring by integrating automation, observability and AI-driven intelligence to identify issues earlier, accelerate remediation and reduce downtime. The services move from reactive and proactive service models toward predictive and prescriptive ones. The result over time is a meaningfully improved offering. AL: Customer experience was one of the most important factors in bringing these organizations together. Both AireSpring and Spectrotel have built strong reputations around service quality, technical expertise and long-term partner relationships, and preserving that experience is a major priority throughout the integration process. At AireSpring, we have consistently invested in both people and technology from our engineering and service delivery teams to the continued evolution of our AI-powered AIreCONTROL platform. Combining the strengths of both organizations creates an opportunity to further enhance visibility, responsiveness, automation and operational support while maintaining the high-touch service model that customers and partners value. CV: Where do you see the strongest cultural alignment between AireSpring and Spectrotel? RA: Cultural alignment was central to this decision. This is just as important as the strategic fit because our team and the way in which we operate daily have been, and will continue to be, critical to our success. Both companies were built on a foundation of service excellence, technical depth and a long-standing commitment to the indirect channel. Neither of us views the channel as just a route to Spectrotel CEO Ross Artale AireSpring Co-Founder Avi Lonstein
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