Those of you — and there are quite a few — that have followed us along the way will recall that PHONE+ started out in the newly competitive payphone and operator services market. Then we began covering the newly competitive long-distance market, the emergence of resellers and, soon after, the development of the indirect sales channel that would help the new long-distance companies take market share from what was then the Big Three — AT&T, MCI and Sprint. Competition came to the local services market after passage of the Telecommunications ACT of 1996, and the opportunity for competitors, resellers and indirect sales agents grew exponentially. PHONE+ emerged as the only publication for telecom agents, spurring the launch of the first trade show, the AgENt Expo, in 1997.
If the early years of our coverage were driven by regulatory-mandated changes to the competitive landscape, the last 15 have been fueled by the incredible changes in technology — primarily the convergence of voice and data networks over IP and the emergence of mobile wireless — as well as new paradigms in the delivery of communications and IT hardware and applications via managed and cloud services.
Throughout the years, however, the opportunity for innovative competitive providers continued and created a thriving and expanding distribution channel for agents, value added resellers, dealers, interconnects and systems integrators. Channel Partners ongoing role is to provide resources — content, education and networking — for this evolving channel community. This commitment is one we take humbly and with appreciation for your continuing support. Thank you for making Channel Partners a leader in the channel for 25 years.
Looking for more? Click here for highlights of some of the telecom industry's standout events and surrounding pop culture facts, from 1987 to 2012. Or click here for our slide show on the winners and losers in technology from the past 25 years.
