Carrier Channel: Qwest Wholesale Under New Management

Posted: 8/2003

Qwest Wholesale Under New
Management

By Khali Henderson

Teresa Taylor

Qwest’s Wholesale Markets Group is
under new management — again. Teresa Taylor, the third executive vice president
for the operating unit in less than a year, told PHONE+ the change-up is by
design. CEO Dick Notebaert’s design to be exact. His strategy, she explains, is
to cross-train his executive management team so they have an understanding of
all parts of the business.

Taylor, for example, most recently
was executive vice president for Qwest’s Products and Pricing Group where she
was responsible for the portfolio of products and services offered to consumer,
retail business and wholesale customers. Now, Pat Engels, her predecessor in the
Wholesale Markets Group, holds that position. Engels, a former vice president at
EDS Corp. and former president and CEO of directory operations at SBC
Communications, held Qwest’s top wholesale post for about six months. She
replaced wholesale industry veteran Gordon Martin, who resigned in August 2002
after less than a year on the job.

Taylor, who came aboard in April, is
putting her product experience to work right away, she says, noting the rollout
of a direct Internet access/CPE bundle scheduled for a late June release. Also
in the works are an integrated voice and data T1 product and an integrated
"three-way" (integrated T1 with local) product that will be offered
in-region as soon as the FCC grants Qwest’s long-distance authority. The company
already may provide long-distance service in 12 of the 14 states in its
territory. Taylor says the group is aiming to roll out the service by the end of
the summer.

She says receiving long-distance
authority does not affect Qwest’s commitment to the wholesale channel. "All
long-distance relief does is give me another product to offer my wholesale
customers," she says, noting that early conversations with customers
indicate they are anxious to have another source of supply.

In her short stint at the helm,
Taylor, a 19-year veteran of the telecom industry, already has attended an
industry trade show and had many one-on-one meetings with wholesale carrier
customers. "The No. 1 thing I heard was that we are still too hard to do
business with," she says, and notes her priority will be to streamline the
process for customers — from provisioning to contracts to dispute resolution.

One example of that effort is the
extension of the company’s Remote Control, Web-based provisioning, order entry
and reporting tool, to include more of Qwest’s products. Currently it supports
toll-free, Qwest metro private line, domestic private line, switched +1,
toll-free and calling card services. Dedicated Internet access also is supported
by other data services being phased in through 2004. Taylor says features will
be added in a continual stream of improvements designed to minimize the manual
touch points with the customer.

Wholesale is one of three top
priorities for Qwest, says Taylor, who notes the others are consumer and retail
business markets. From a revenue standpoint, wholesale is the smallest
contributor, she says. Due to restatements that involve the company’s accounting
for IRUs, revised data on its contribution to the company’s overall revenue are
not yet available, Taylor adds. Previously, the company reported Wholesale
Markets Group accounted for $4 billion and about 25 percent of the company’s
revenue.

"Wholesale really is a
necessary distribution channel for us, not one that we have because we are
required to," Taylor says. She adds most growth in wholesale comes from
unregulated markets.