24 01732 759725 More gain, less pain prioritised altnets better than anybody else, to have that seamless and homogeneous approach to customer service, making sure the installation is at the right time, has all the right SLAs and keeps up with any issues that crop up,” he said. For resellers (and their customers), a key selling point of Sky broadband is the adoption of port-based authentication which uses data supplied by Openreach to authenticate remote routers. This removes the need for customer usernames/ passwords, router reconfiguration, new hardware and site visits, saving time, hassle and money and ultimately enabling resellers/MSPs to scale broadband provision. This is clearly of benefit to partners looking to convert existing and new customers to All-IP before the PSTN Switch-off in January 2027. In trials, transition times were as fast as 30 seconds to three minutes, minimising disruption for customers. Dale Parkinson, Managing Director – Connectivity for Giacom, said: “This is a game-changing product for All-IP transformation and new fibre connections from legacy assets, as well as for the future of strategic connectivity in the UK. What sets this solution apart is its ability to transform legacy connections more effectively, quickly and with less disruption for end users than anything else in the industry. It’s faster, more cost-effective and provides our partners with a significant differentiator when competing for new business.” Sky Business Wholesale broadband + Hub In April, Sky is introducing its router for Sky Business Wholesale broadband, the Sky Business Hub, which will add value to the customer experience, as well as giving channel partners a platform for future services and revenue opportunities. The Sky Business Hub is a bespokedeveloped piece of equipment delivering wired and wireless connectivity, supporting up to four Ethernet connections and up to 100 devices via WiFi 6, plus software and support, including compliance with regulations like the Telecom Security Act. Giacom.com partners as it will act as a platform for services that can unlock additional revenue and more margin than connectivity alone. At the launch on January 22, Giacom COO Nathan Marke said: “What you’re going to see today is a product or a set of products that are basically a platform. A few months ago Tez (Giacom CEO Terry O’Brien) was at (Sky owner) Comcast in the US where they unveiled a load of really interesting things that on this platform we’re going to deliver over the top. If you think about your managed services proposition and think about that basic product that you can put into your customer, and then your ability to turn on new features and new functions that are going to add more and more value to your customers and more margin, that’s the opportunity that we’ve got.” He added that the platform combines brilliant technology (Giacom EasySwitching); a great digital experience powered by APIs – “Quote all the way through to cash – service delivery, analytics, management, all the things that enable you to differentiate are in that experience”; and a great service wrap from Giacom including a comprehensive self-service order journey that will enable partners to check availability, manage inflight orders, modify care levels and run diagnostics such as line tests and outage checks, all from a single platform. On top of that, Giacom’s All-IP Managed Service (AIMS) can provide partners with tailored migration plans, base analysis and order management, ensuring a smooth transition to the future of connectivity. Sky Business Wholesale broadband with Giacom EasySwitching Available exclusively from Giacom’s Cloud Market, Sky’s broadband solution makes it easy for customers to switch their line over to Sky and, as Sky Business Wholesale Managing Director Damian Saunders explained, enjoy all the benefits of Sky’s network capabilities, including 100Gb capability, 55Tbps backhaul capacity, 2,800 Ethernet-enabled exchanges and 24/7 in-house management. “We’re sitting on one of the best networks and we can command and leverage our size and scale and our buying power to stitch together chosen, Giacom is building on its relationship with Sky Business Wholesale with the launch of a ‘game-changing’ broadband solution that makes it quicker and easier for Giacom’s base of 6,000 technology resellers and service providers to switch customers to Sky Business Wholesale broadband and make margin from broadband connectivity. The companies’ latest collaboration extends a partnership started last year with the addition of Sky Ethernet to Giacom’s Cloud Market portal, but its roots go back to discussions between Giacom and Sky Business Wholesale in the spring of 2022 about how to create a genuinely differentiated broadband product for the channel that would support the transition from transactional sales to managed services. The result is two ‘ground-breaking’ products: Sky Business Wholesale broadband with Giacom EasySwitching, available now as a wire-only solution; and a new router, the Sky Business Hub, which will be available with Sky Business Wholesale broadband from April. The former has big benefits in its own right (see below), but it is the associated router, the Sky Business Hub, that arguably has the most long-term potential for channel Giacom and Sky Business Wholesale introduce ‘game-changing’ broadband solution CONNECTIVITY Damian Saunders, Managing Director of Sky Business Wholesale (left) and Dale Parkinson, Managing Director – Connectivity for Giacom
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