Resellers to benefit from Alcatel initiative

Vendor offers single source for comms infrastructure

Alcatel is approaching major telecoms firms to promote its Borderless Enterprise Market initiative, and is trying to set up managed services relationships between resellers and carriers.

Following the success of its Synergy programme, the company's new strategy will provide a single source for communications infrastructure and software applications.

Richard Pitt, Alcatel's UK area director, said: "This new initiative will make it easy to integrate carriers' networks with end users because the applications and infrastructure are from one source."

Although Alcatel is selling the kit direct to carriers, it said the new launch will benefit resellers which will be essential in providing skills and expertise to integrate managed services for customers.

"Resellers and carriers are vital to the success of this programme, and we are ensuring they talk to each other," said Pitt. "We are providing the glue to make it work."

Olivier Houssin, president of Alcatel's ebusiness group, said: "Resellers will benefit because the managed services need to be shipped, and the customer premises equipment boxes must be installed and maintained."

Chris Luff, sales director at Alcatel reseller partner Freedom Communication, agreed. "It will be critical for the carrier to have support on the ground. They need someone with a history of maintenance and support," he said. "A service provider offering managed services does not have the resources to install and maintain boxes, so it relies on the manufacturer and its channel."

The company said it will try to broker relationships between channel partners and carriers where appropriate, because the carriers have the bandwidth and the channel has the skills to build bridges to the end users. "In the real world partnerships will spring up to solve customer problems," said Pitt.

Separately, Alcatel has announced plans to sell the majority of its manufacturing plants by the end of 2002. It aims to shed all but 12 of its 120 factories by the end of 2002, and is negotiating staff cuts with employees and unions.