SBC and Verizon Acquisitions
Impact
What has happened since the latest acquisitions by SBC
and Verizon? The big carriers, specifically AT&T, are making attempts to change
the market dynamics regarding terms and conditions by no
longer agreeing to key contract language such as rate reviews
or term versus annual commitments, etc. Since purchased
by SBC, the new AT&T
believes they can dictate market terms instead of responding
to market requirements. The net of these changes puts gains
made in the past few years at risk of being lost. Terms
that clients fought hard to obtain are no longer being
offered without a prolonged negotiation process. This creates
an even greater need to seek professional assistance from
experts in order to protect those gains made in the past
few years and to combat such monopolistic behavior!
The carriers are also attempting to convince enterprise
clients they need not issue competitive bids in order to
receive market priced deals. They are offering convincing
claims enterprise organizations will get the equivocal
deal, pricing, terms etc. without engaging consultants
and incurring the additional cost to secure the best deals.
This is just false! Actual results, as documented by Gartner,
Inc. reports, provide an approximate 20% increase in savings,
over and above what the carriers ultimately offer their
customers, if negotiated via a competent third party through
a competitive bid process. There is no substitute for competition
to drive the best deal … period!