I get calls from time to time from all kinds of third parties wanting to sell AT&T services to us.

Several years ago, I didn't realize that they weren't the same and signed a contract with one of them. That was a royal pain in the neck -- any time something went wrong, there was a lot of finger pointing.

So what is an "AT&T Alliance Channel Solution Provider"? One called this morning wanting our account number to do an "account review". I got her to send an e-mail and her domain is "globalfiberteam.com" instead of att.com.

Oddly enough, if I check out their web page, it says that it is "is parked free, courtesy of GoDaddy.com".

It is getting more and more difficult to figure out who is legit and who is a scammer.

In the world of telecom and IT these days, many cloud providers and carriers sell their services through two different vehicles: Direct and Channel.

A Direct rep is someone who works for that company. A Direct rep at AT&T knocks on your door and will do or say what they can to sell you on AT&T being the best option for you.

A Channel Partner is a company able to sell the exact same services for the exact same price, but they are able to sell most other carriers, as well. So, if you and I were talking about you needing a 1G symmetrical and dedicated fiber connection for your business in Houston, I could generate a price for AT&T, Logix, Comcast, PS Lightwave, and several others. Basically, I'm able to see who is "On-net" and therefore the best price for comparable services. The carrier then pays the Channel Partner a percentage of the Monthly Recurring Cost as a commission.

If any Direct Rep tells you he/she can get you a price that a Channel rep can't, they are lying. We have price parity with the Direct Reps per the contracts signed on the back end with these carriers. Granted, sometimes the Direct reps are more up to date on the freshest discounts or promos.

In the market, the Channel has been taking over Direct teams for the last 5 years or so. Many of the carriers have been drastically reducing their sales forces due to getting beat in the market by Channel Partners. I know some providers in Houston have literally cut their sales teams by 75%.

Having said that, no one should be calling you and asking for your account number and such. If someone does that, I could tell them to pound sand and block their number.

ETA: Also, there are some things that you can't work with a Direct rep on. For example: ACC is only sold through the Channel, though it's technically a part of AT&T.

I found a list of what appears to be channel partners at https://www.business.att.com/industries/partner-solutions/att-alliance-channel-directory.html

I note that they call it an alliance channel.

If I need to deal with AT&T channel partners, I suspect that I am better off to contact channel partners. I don't know that the one who called is a good choice.

By the way, what is "ACC"?

That link doesn't really cover all the channel partners. For example, if you look at that list you will find Intelisys, Telarus, and others like them. These are "master agents" that act as distributors for cloud-based and carrier services.

For example, our company is a sub-agent of Intelisys. This gives us the ability to sell AT&T, Comcast, Consolidated, PS Lightwave, Logix, etc. Therefore, we are a Channel Partner of AT&T through our contract with Intelisys. That page only shows companies with the direct Channel agreements with AT&T.

ACC is a branch within AT&T that is only sold through Channel Partners. It's basically the exact same service and pricing, but you deal with a different installation, Support, and billing team instead of the main AT&T teams. I always prefer selling ACC versus AT&T because communication and service just seems to be better.

Thanks.

For us, AT&T is the only option for fiber unless you want to deal with a company that I absolutely detest. The FCC or some other agency gave them millions of dollars to build out fiber here even though they had virtually no presence here and that gives them enormous help in pushing out the smaller companies that have been doing a good job all along.

I guess that Socialism is winning.

Verizon is putting in fiber now so at some point, we could possibly switch to Verizon. My understanding is that they have to run fiber to all the Texas Region 16 schools for a contract they recently got.

My biggest concern is that we still have more than two years in our three year contract for our current telephone coverage. The last thing I want to chance is that we change to another provider and AT&T requires all those early termination fees.

When I deal with AT&T, I am pretty sure that won't happen.

Yeah... all carriers are hardliners on Early Termination Fees. If you are under contract, you're stuck. The only way out is if something is willing to buyout the contract, but that barely happens unless you have under 1 year left.