Airband Ramps Up Agent Program

Zane Long

Dallas-based fixed-wireless provider Airband Communications Inc. is showing growing interest in expanding and promoting its agent program, including the addition of a newly hired vice president of the indirect channel, Zane Long.

Long reports that although Airband has had an agent program for a couple of years, the company had not grown the network aggressively. With the companys recent expansion into new markets and additional buildouts in existing markets, Airband is now fully committed to grow the indirect channel, Long says.

The new program, which is currently up and running, is supported by a team of field agent channel managers and sales engineers. Weve also simplified the partnership agreement and streamlined the payout process so were easier to do business with, Long explains.

The company provides services from its fixedwireless network based on WiMAX technology and targets businesses with more than 3,000 customers nationwide. Partners are invited to sell all of Airbands products and services, including its fixed-wireless Ethernet, hosted VoIP services and Airbands fully managed firewall/VPN solution.

A partnership with Airband will provide both the agent and the customer with compelling and costeffective broadband solutions over a truly diverse network, says Long. He says agents can benefit from faster installations than wireline services, which translate to faster payments for the agents. Furthermore, Long says agents have one point of contact for easy access and support, and can promise their customers a 100 percent uptime guarantee.

Agents will be paid on a flat schedule of 15 percent for all Airband products and services. There are no revenue tiers to meet for this commission rate, only annual revenue production requirements, to remain in the program. Long says master agents will be selected with very specific criteria and will be on a higher commission rate. The commission rate will remain the same, regardless of revenue generated, as long as annual revenue productions are met.

Airband currently serves Los Angeles, Orange County, Calif., San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas/Ft Worth, Austin, Texas, San Antonio, Houston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Raleigh, N.C., and Charlotte, N.C., with other market announcements planned.

Spearheading the programs growth, Long joined Airband in August. He says he was attracted to Airbands fixed-wireless technology because it has the attention in the marketplace, as the go to technology for VoIP and Internet needs of customers, he says. Long has been in telecom for 18 years, and most recently was the indirect channel vice president for Level 3 Communications. From 2000 to 2007, he created and led the national indirect channel programs at Focal Communications and Broadwing Communications. My track record of successfully creating, launching and leading national indirect channel programs will bring new revenue to Airband quickly, Long predicts.

The indirect channel will have a very positive impact on the growth of our markets, allowing us to accelerate our buildout plans, Long continues. As we expand our network, we will evaluate many different distribution options. This is just a first step in making a commitment to developing an indirect channel.

Airband is looking at VARs, VADs, agents and master agents, and is especially interested in partners who have WiMAX fixed-wireless and VoIP experience.