As I mentioned on my blog earlier this afternoon, and as many of us who have been in the telecom space for long enough certainly know, the days of thriving competitive local exchange carriers, or “CLECs” – both pre- and post-Telecom Act bubble – are long gone.

 

Born from so-called “Competitive Access Providers” nearly a quarter-century ago, CLECs began developing in earnest in the 1990s as co-carriers that used their own switches in fiber systems.

 

But in recent years, incumbents such as AT&T (News - Alert), leveraging virtual colocation, have largely edged out CLECs – which makes the success of Wholesale Carrier Services Inc. that much more improbable.

 

During a podcast recorded today with the head of the Coral Springs, Fla.-based CLEC – a company that builds, sells and implements telecom networks for commercial end-users and resellers, and offers a unified billing platform – I picked up some interesting and valuable insights into what channel partners, agents and VARs are facing in this down economy.

 

The president and chief executive officer at WCS, Chris Barton (News - Alert) (pictured left) – a man whose proximity to parts of south Florida I envy each winter – told me that some solution providers have had success in offering service cost reductions to new customers, but that the overwhelming majority of agents are seeing channels used as a way to negotiate with incumbents in order to drive prices down, even though customers have no intention of moving.

 

Barton goes into specifics in our talk about what he sees as a consolidation of carriers that’s bringing new pain to agents in an economic environment that he thinks will worsen, and you won’t want to miss his what his industry experience tells him awaits the commercial real estate market and inflation.

 

Have a listen for yourself.