A big CenturyLink outage and Dialpad‘s acquisition made our list of top stories for the week.

The Channel Partners editorial staff is working hard to bring you the news a week before our virtual conference. We’ve assembled and summarized seven of the most interesting stories on our website.

Check them out before you start your Labor Day weekend.

7. 8×8 Expands Open Communications Platform Reach with Telarus

The UCaaS provider gave U.K.-based Telarus agents access to its new communications portfolio.

The companies had already been working together, as Telarus holds membership in the 8×8 Open Channel Program. However, the master agent is expanding its access beyond the United States.

“We now have a great opportunity to take the partnership to the next level and replicate this success for our sales partners in the U.K.,” a Telarus executive said.

Edward Gately has the scoop.

6. Takedowns, Arrests No Deterrent to Growing DDoS-for-Hire Attacks

Radware unveiled its latest threat alert report.

Although governing authorities are successfully taking threat actors out of commission, other criminals are taking their place. Moreover, Radware‘s head of security research said takedowns and arrests do not impose severe enough consequences.

Read about the study.

5. AT&T, Spectrum, Verizon, More Chase CenturyLink on Ethernet Leaderboard

Vertical Systems Group is at it again with its ranking of top Ethernet providers.

CenturyLink and AT&T led the list, as they did at the end of 2019. CenturyLink, whose outage we also wrote about this week, has led the leaderboard since 2017.

See the leaderboard.

4. 3 Networking Trends to Watch as Working from Home Becomes Permanent

The post-COVID-19 world will be quite different from the pre-COVID-19 world. How can you use technology to align with the future?

That’s what Anish Patel, TBI‘s vice president of emerging technologies, will discuss at the upcoming Channel Partners Virtual event.

Patel will talk about SD-WAN and other trends of the work-from-home movement.

Read the preview of Patel’s talk.

3. TBI, MetTel Alum Helping Telesystem Agents Sell Services

Speaking of TBI, one of its former executives made the news this week.

Ken Mercer, who worked for a decade at the Chicago-based master agent, joined Telesystem. He’ll recruit agent partners in the Midwest as a channel account executive.

Learn more about Mercer.

2. Dialpad Acquires Highfive for Enhanced Video Capabilities

Dialpad bought the video conferencing provider for an undisclosed amount.

The purchaser’s stated goal is to enhance its portfolio’s video capabilities. On the other hand, Highfive partners can harness cloud-based business phone and contact center offerings.

The companies haven’t released details of their channel integration.

Gately covered the acquisition.

1. CenturyLink Internet Outage Affects Cloudflare, Other Online Services

CenturyLink, the Louisiana-based service provider, suffered an internet outage earlier this week.

The internet went down Sunday morning, taking with it services from Cloudflare and Amazon. A CenturyLink spokesperson confirmed that the outage “was not a security-related event.”

Learn about the incident.