Telstra partners slam channel split rumour
Telco claims it has no plans to cut back back the range of products available through resellers
Speculation that Telstra will become the latest carrier to pull away from the channel has been branded a “storm in a teacup” by its partners.
Rumours that the Australian telecoms giant, which has 120 UK partners, will trim the range of products available through resellers have been rife since it appointed a new European chief executive in December.
Last week, resellers berated BT for turning its back on the channel (CRN, 30 April), while VARs were left stranded last year when Cable & Wireless ditched its two-tier channel model (CRN, 30 January 2006).
However, Ben Lefeuvre, sales manager for indirect channels at Telstra, told CRN: “There is no intention to change what we offer to the reseller community. The full product set is still available through the channel.”
Lefeuvre admitted the carrier had been considering “what we sell to whom” and had discussed how best to sell its global wide area network (WAN) and complex hosting solutions to large multinational customers.
“They may be better served by us selling direct, but we are happy to support resellers,” he said.
The main change is Telstra’s decision to sharpen the focus of its direct-selling unit on global accounts.
“Carriers have not traditionally been good at addressing SMEs and smaller corporates,” Lefeuvre said.
John Massey, managing director of one of three UK platinum resellers for Telstra, said: “This has been a storm in a teacup stirred up by other network suppliers. The number of UK dealers selling Telstra’s high-end products is minimal.”
Richard Banfield, managing director at Telstra platinum partner Echo Communications, said: “It’s just more of the same only better.”