SMB

Cbeyond Launches Small Business Services in South Florida

Bernie — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:22:27 -0400

MIAMI, Oct 15, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cbeyond(R), Inc. (NASDAQ: CBEY), a leading IP-based managed services provider to small businesses, today announced it has expanded services into its 11th market, the South Florida metropolitan area, which includes Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Miramar, Hollywood, and BocaRaton.

"With South Florida's large entrepreneurial community, we are excited to grow our presence and deliver services that will benefit the local small business community," said Jim Geiger, chairman and CEO of Cbeyond. "We pride ourselves in providing productivity-enhancing communications solutions that help small businesses successfully run their companies, especially within a challenging economy." Read More ...

Verizon Brings FiOS TV to SMB Market

Bernie — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Verizon announced the launch of FiOS TV for business. The service will target businesses like medical offices, banks, building lobbies, restaurants, and other businesses that offer television viewing to their customers. The service is available in all FiOS markets within the following thirteen states: California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia. Pricing starts at $49.99/month.

Embarq Launches MPLS Powered IP VPNs

Bernie — Sun, 25 May 2008 15:28:58 -0400

Embarq announced the launch of virtual private networks (VPNs) utilizing multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). MPLS VPNs can be used to deliver virtually any type of network traffic. Embarq's new MPLS VPN service provides network management with in-network routing, offering security and service quality for multimedia streaming applications like Voice over IP and video. Embarq will offer multiple customer options ranging from a port-only offering to a “Fully Managed Solution Bundles” including unbundled ports, access, router and maintenance combinations. Embarq is coordinating the launch of this new service with the launch of their new brand Embarq Business, which will offer a variety of SMB and enterprise level communications solutions.

Cox and Nortel Partner for Business Market

Bernie — Mon, 19 May 2008 23:38:44 -0400

Cox and Nortel announced a partnership that will allow their respective sales organizations to market each others products and services. The new product solutions which include Nortel’s Business Communication Manager platform, will be packaged under the Cox Business brand. Cox Business provides communications services to business customers in 18 markets across the U.S., including small businesses, multi-location enterprises, regional healthcare providers and federal, state and local government organizations.

AT&T Targets SMBs with 10 Mbps U-Verse

Bernie — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:06:38 -0400

AT&T announced that its U-Verse platform is now available for small and medium businesses. The AT&T High Speed Internet U-verse Enabled Business Edition will feature a 10 Mbps service, serving up to 32 Internet connected devices. Additionally, business customers utilizing the U-Verse platform will gain free access to AT&T’s 17,000 nationwide Wi-Fi hotspots. The new SMB targeted service will initially be available in 40 markets, and will grow to cover their 22 state footprint in the coming months and years.

Comcast Offers 16 Mbps Tier for SMB Market

Bernie — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 20:48:28 -0400

Comcast announced the launch of a 16 Mbps download/2 Mbps upload speed for its Business Class Internet service tiers. The increase in speeds will be provided at no additional cost to existing customers. Comcast also offers a Microsoft Communications Services bundle for SMB customers. “Comcast is dedicated to and focused on offering a better broadband Internet experience so business customers are equipped with technology solutions that save time, increase productivity and offer more value,” said Bill Stemper, President, Comcast Business Services.

AT&T and RIM Partner for SMB Blackberry Solutions

Bernie — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:42:37 -0400

AT&T and RIM have announced the availability of the BlackBerry Professional Suite platform for small and medium business customers. Previously available to enterprise customers only, the BlackBerry Professional Suite offers an integrated wireless communications, collaboration, and security suite of applications for BlackBerry users. The small business version provides support for up to 30 users. It enables wireless access to e-mail, calendar, contacts, business data and Internet access. RIM announced the launch of the BlackBerry Professional Suite targeting small business back in November 2007.

Charter and Cox Collaborate on Business Market

Bernie — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:58:27 -0400

It’s no secret that the cable industry sees the small/medium business and enterprise sectors as their next big growth engine. Continuing to grow revenue generating units in the consumer triple play sector is nice, but the growth hungry cable industry realizes that won’t be enough to satisfy shareholders and Wall Street. So it’s no surprise to see collaborative efforts like the one announced by Charter and Cox concerning fiber connectivity links. The two large MSOs have agreed to connect each others markets through fiber rings in their Nevada markets of Reno and Las Vegas. Similar links are taking place in California, between Orange County and Los Angeles. Cox and Charter have previously relied on telecom carriers to establish connectivity between markets.

The collaborative effort will target enterprise customers who have multiple locations, with Ethernet and IP transport services. “This agreement brings a competitive choice to businesses that need to communicate with locations in other key commerce hubs in the western U.S.,” said Jim McGann, vice president and general manager, Charter Business. Cox has been quite active with their Ethernet solutions, and now ranks as the fourth largest provider of Ethernet services in the country. By partnering with Charter, they are able to expand services beyond their traditional footprint. Expect to see more collaborative efforts like this among cable MSOs, as they continue to try to compete with well entrenched telecom service providers, who have long viewed the business communications sector and the billions of revenue it generates as their own.

Qwest Expands VoIP Portfolio

Bernie — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 10:14:41 -0500

Qwest announced upgrades to their VoIP product line, OneFlex, including better compression, allowing more voice capability. OneFlex targets the small and medium business sector with a variety of IP communications services and features. New features include allowing callers to “zero out” to an operator on VoIP calls and more features for the administrator web portal. The new portal features allow provides more flexibility for office administrators to manage their systems whether employees are in the office or working remotely.

Cablevision Expands SMB Options

Bernie — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:13:44 -0500

Cablevision is now offering small and medium business customers up to 12 voice lines. The expanded offering is under their business Optimum Voice portfolio and offers flat-rate, unlimited local and long-distance calling, Caller ID, call waiting and enhanced voicemail. Cablevision also bundles business broadband packages of up to 30 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream.