Verizon Wholesale expands SMB, wireless offers

Verizon Partner Solutions, the wholesale unit of Verizon, this week is highlighting new efforts to help its retail customers sell to small and medium businesses (SMBs) and offer mobility services, considered a major new growth area. Verizon Partner Solutions is leveraging Verizon’s internally developed capabilities, such as its security services and on-site customer premises equipment (CPE) service, as wholesale offerings for its service provider customers, company officials said.

“We are taking some of concepts that went into building our Verizon Services Operations and bringing those to our customers,” said Kathleen Sullivan, divisional vice president of Verizon Partner Solutions. “Our message is that we know they have core competencies; we are trying to look at them and see how we can augment them from the Verizon family of services, how we can simplify their operations.”

Verizon Services Operations is the combination of Verizon’s local telephone business with Verizon Business, the former MCI organization, under the leadership of Virginia P. Ruesterholz. Verizon Partner Solutions is now a part of VSO and can leverage the full range of Verizon’s network capabilities for its wholesale customers, said Quentin Lew, senior vice president of Verizon BPS.

“For example, we’ve introduced security services from the Verizon Business portfolio and while we initially introduced it for customers’ own use, where it was really interesting was in what they could sell to their customers,” Sullivan said. “We went through the portfolio and selected those that fit the needs of our customers in that they were highly automated but would add value. Our online payment program leverages the Verizon and Cybertrust expertise and adds that level of service to our customers in the retail space. We are looking for services that will complement what our customers offer, make something for them to resell, make their service sticker or increase their market share.”

The mobility service offerings are intended to help Verizon Partner Solutions get into the lucrative and growing world of wireless voice and data offerings. Launched last June, Wholesale Mobility Services are being enhanced with new features that include bulk voice pricing, third-party customer support through a Verizon partner called Mission Critical Wireless, and new wireless data options.

“Wireless is a very exciting environment, it’s evolving rapidly,” said Janice Crandall, product manager with Verizon Partner Solutions. “We are seeing changes month over month. It’s not a surprise that data over a wireless device is really growing. There are a lot of new applications that are going the way of the smart phone [and] smart device that can accommodate data.” 

The two new devices Verizon Partner Solutions will support through its Wholesale Mobility Solutions are the CR Wireless 598 and the Novatel Wireless Ovation 760, both of which are USB port devices that can operate in both Mac and Windows configurations, Crandall said.

Mission Critical Wireless can provide end-to-end support for retail service providers just getting into the wireless business, Crandall added. “They provide consulting, training and sales/support consulting,” she said. “For the first 180 days, when a customer signs up, we provide that service through Mission Critical Wireless. Our customers can get into the market and have their customer support issues taken care of while they gain more experience.”

The CPE site services enable Verizon Partner Solutions to leverage the “thousands of technicians” Verizon has to do installation and maintenance services that augment what its retail customers have as field forces, Sullivan said.  “Even though it’s not as glamorous as security services, it helps our customers meet the needs of their business.”