BT’s channel strategy has again come under scrutiny as the telco giant has merged its two reseller arms.

Last year, BT acquired resellers SkyNet in May and TNS (CRN, 7 November). The telco was widely criticised at the time for directly competing with its own channel partners.

BT has now launched BT iNet, a venture formed from the merger of BT TNS and BT SkyNet. BT iNet will focus on LANs, IP telephony, wireless networking, managed services and security services.

Dave Carrington, managing director of BT iNet and former managing director of BT SkyNet, said: “BT customers will benefit from our approach to delivering networking solutions, while existing BT SkyNet and BT TNS customers will gain access to the wider BT portfolio and capabilities.”

Mike Harris, former managing director of BT TNS, will move to BT Global Services to join the team responsible for managing BT’s global relationship with Cisco.

Mark Evans, director at BT VAR ME Consultancy, said: “I don’t see any threat, because iNet is just another VAR that is owned by BT.”

However, Scott Dobson, managing director of distributor Vcomm, said: “I expect BT iNet to go for as many deals as possible with the BT flag on its shoulders and not care who it upsets.”

Kathleen Klasnic, analyst at market watcher Datamonitor, said: “BT’s partners may be nervous. It depends on how BT communicates with its channel and makes the boundaries of who gets what business clear.”

In 2003, BT-backed reseller Open Orchard, which competed with BT’s own channel partners, was folded back into its parent division, BT Retail. BT admitted at the time that Open Orchard had not served the market any better than its own channel.

trevor_treharne@vnu.co.uk