CHANNEL PARTNERS VIRTUAL — T-Mobile has unveiled its new channel partner program on the heels of its successful merger with Sprint. The news comes in conjunction with the first day of Channel Partners Virtual.

The companies agreed in 2018 that they would come together, but their path to consolidation took them through a long series of regulatory hurdles. Now they have combined, and so have their channel programs.

The T-Mobile for Business Partner Program lists agents, resellers, MSPs, VARs, cloud partners and solution providers as its target demographic. Channel executives say they are offering “true deal registration” and seek to eliminate channel conflict with T-Mobile direct teams.

We sat down with Mike Fitz, vice president of global wireline solutions for T-Mobile for Business, and Tim Acker, senior director for T-Mobile for Business.

Channel Partners: Now that Sprint and T-Mobile have come together, what’s going to happen to the legacy companies’ channel programs?

T-Mobile’s Tim Acker

Tim Acker: I’m excited to introduce the all-new T-Mobile for Business Partner Program, and the “un-carrier” aims to change the way partners work with service providers. Now that Sprint has joined T-Mobile and we have rebranded retail store operations under the T-Mobile name, we are ready to bring an all-new experience to the channel. We’re not just building a bigger partner program, but a better one — combining the best of both T-Mobile and Sprint legacy channel programs to create a better experience for customers and partners, whether you’re a mobility partner or a global wireline solutions partner.

Mike Fitz: And to do that, the all-new T-Mobile for Business Partner Program will bring together the legacy Sprint partner programs focused on mobility and wireline with the legacy T-Mobile Partner Program. All of our partners from the legacy companies’ channel programs can continue to work with T-Mobile and watch for even better benefits from the un-carrier. We are ready to change how partners engage with service providers.

T-Mobile’s Mike Fitz

CP: What can partners expect with the T-Mobile for Business Partner Program?

TA: We are building a partner program to address today’s needs of the channel. Over the last several months with the pandemic, we have found customers need more from us collectively. This new program reflects our joint mission to serve those customers with the products and solutions to help make an impact in sustaining their goals.

To do that, we are upping the investment in our T-Mobile for Business Partner Program. With the combined resources of the two companies, we have doubled the sales and engineering channel experts dedicated to partners, plus invested in dedicated wireline implementation and customer support resources. We have marketing tools to help partners reach customers and we provide a secure partner portal to improve ordering efficiency with offer details on-demand and training materials — all to help our partners drive profitable growth.

Add to that, access to all business segments and true deal registration to make engagement with T-Mobile frictionless. As the un-carrier, we are doing away with old industry norms and giving our partners more opportunities to grow their business.

MF: The same program benefits apply to both our mobility partners and wireline partners, who will benefit from T-Mobile’s transformative network, top-tier customer support and insanely great value. No compromises. We call this the T-Mobile Business Advantage — the end of businesses having to make tradeoffs.

CP: Could you outline the leadership structure for T-Mobile’s indirect strategy?

MF: Tim Acker is the channel chief for the T-Mobile for Business Partner Program. He and his team will oversee the overall program and will work side by side with Dave Falter, who leads the wireline portion of the program. Dave’s team will continue to be our wireline-centric partner’s point of contact. Both the mobility solutions and wireline products sold through the channel ladder up to …… Mike Katz, executive vice president of T-Mobile for Business.

TA: We realize B2B partners are an important part of our sales success and, together with Dave, we will continue to drive success of T-Mobile’s full portfolio of products and solutions with our channel partners.

CP: How do wireline and wireless offerings figure into this strategy? Are there going to be separate programs for them?

TA: Both T-Mobile’s wireline and wireless offerings play an important role in the all-new T-Mobile for Business Partner Program. That’s why both areas roll up to one partner program, with each product area led by individual channel chiefs — myself for mobility and Dave Falter for wireline. Think of it as two arms of the same body. We’re working together towards the same objective — helping partners grow their business and meet customers’ needs.

MF: That’s right — there will be two arms of the partner program focused on the same goal. On the wireline side, T-Mobile now offers Sprint wireline solutions and the reasons to partner with Sprint (now part of T-Mobile) for wireline have not changed — high-quality core global network reaching 195 countries, high availability network backed with scalable 100% availability SLAs, and a dedicated partner support model. Our wireline partners can continue to sell wireline services –same as always – and we’re committed to honor the existing agreements with their wireline customers.

Our partners can also take advantage of the network investments we’re making in the wireline portfolio. We’ve launched carrier Ethernet and wave services this year, with plans for a modernized SIP trunking product coming soon.

CP: What message do you have for partners?

MF: I want to be sure channel partners know that Sprint has joined the T-Mobile family and the united company – referred to as T-Mobile – is here to challenge the status quo in the telecom industry. That means our wireline partners can count on the same global wireline solutions they’ve come to expect, with Certainty – the network design model that utilizes multilayer network diversity to provide maximum network availability and application performance. You will also continue to see the Sprint name in market, particularly for wireline networking solutions, until our brand efforts are complete.

At Sprint, the channel contributed to our business success, and that won’t change at T-Mobile. The global wireline solutions business will play a part in the success of T-Mobile for Business as a growth area in the combined company. What’s more, we are committed to investing in the partner community, as you can see with the launch of the all-new T-Mobile for Business Partner Program.

TA: I want to remind partners that T-Mobile is customer- and partner-obsessed, and go further to provide great service and support. That’s why we offer flexible sales models to best meet partners’ needs. We’ve made big changes to lower channel conflict and give you the ability to close new accounts, sell into existing accounts with new opportunities, or bring your solution and sell with us. Our direct teams today leverage the sell-with program and partner community to solve customer needs.

CP: Is there anything else you would like to add?

MF: We’re not just a bigger company; we’re a better one and we are using our network for good. Whether that’s to help connect schools and school districts for virtual classroom learning with Project 10Million or providing free wireless service to first-responder agencies through Connecting Heroes. T-Mobile is expanding our approach to the industry to our partner program as well, through the enhancements we’ve shared with you today. And this is just the beginning.