Good for the goose

Telecom service providers are no doubt well-aware of the ways the Internet can enhance business operations. They are, after all, the ones providing the background network support for most of the e-commerce initiatives that are revolutionizing the way so many organizations are selling merchandise and otherwise conducting business - the Amazons and eBays of the .com world.

Logically enough, that's especially true for the ISP sector. Born and bred in the Internet environment, these organizations obviously are closely tuned to Web-driven business operations and know how to provide the support their business customers require to add the all-important "e-" to whatever type of commerce happens to be their focus.

Now, some of the ISPs leading the charge in support of their customers' e-commerce initiatives are intelligently taking their efforts to the next level.

Last week, for example, PSINet announced its intention to expand its e-commerce support effort from one focused on individual businesses to one that encompasses everything associated with those businesses. In other words, any suppliers, manufacturers and distributors associated with a particular e-business initiative could come into PSINet's sights as a potential e-commerce customer (see story on page 8).

The ISP has even acquired a financial transaction house so that it can facilitate the ordering, supply and payment process itself. And it has organized itself in such a way that it can logically attack vertical markets, both domestically and internationally.

All of that makes perfect sense. Any breed of communications service provider, ISP or otherwise, owns and operates some level of network operations that are already designed to perform all those ordering and processing tasks, among other complicated functions. Why not extend that capability in a way that allows the provider to capture some of the revenue previously being absorbed by the business customers whose networks they themselves support?

But it raises a confounding question: If PSINet or any other network operator - including the legacy carriers whose networks are so much more widespread, if not as data-oriented - can provide that kind of capability for business customers in a non-telecom market niche, why can't it apply the same theories to selling telecom services? The same service providers that have been so aggressive in their support of other businesses' e-commerce efforts have been slow in adopting a Web-based sales and distribution model for themselves. Very few traditional network operators have yet to make service ordering, activation and even billing available in any kind of comprehensive electronic format.

A recent report from American Management Systems, a developer of software for network operations support and e-commerce, encapsulates the state of Internet-based initiatives in the telecom industry. Among other findings, it shows that telecom service providers clearly are not exploiting the opportunity that exists to use electronic means to market, sell and otherwise transact business with high-value corporate customers: "Despite the vast publicity and high levels of general awareness," the study states in its executive summary, "AMS in its research found that the Internet has yet to become an emphasized, active business channel for most communications firms."

The AMS report goes on to state that e-commerce in general is not considered a high priority among telecom service providers. What's more, the study finds that although these telecom organizations use electronic methods to collect information about their customers, they do not apply that data to creating a more personalized, Web-based experience for their customers.

It's a baffling trend. What's stopping these network operators from overhauling their own business designs to better match those of so many of their customers that are enjoying e-commerce success? Are there technological stumbling blocks? From the looks of some of the e-commerce support units within so many carriers organizations, that seems doubtful. More likely, it's one more example of legacy thinking that keeps carrier organizations from evolving as quickly as they so clearly can.

Telecom service providers can not afford the irony of letting the e-commerce opportunity pass them by even as they maintain their role as the primary means of network support for e-commerce in other industries. In other words, do unto yourselves what you are already doing unto others.