Imagine and Nortel team up in telecoms deal

SMBs to benefit from combined offering

By Maxim Kelly, ElectricNews.net • Get more from this author

Posted in Telecoms, 8th August 2006 11:26 GMT

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Telecoms equipment firm Nortel and telecommunications provider Imagine have teamed up to provide an all-Ireland communications package for small businesses.

The two firms said they will begin immediate recruitment for 40 resellers to market the combined product. This comprises Nortel's Business Communications Manager (BCM) internet telephony product, and a combined telecommunications pricing package from Imagine.

In a joint statement, Nortel and Imagine said the low equipment cost of BCM and Imagine's pricing model will provide a competitive offer to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the Irish market.

Imagine claims the offering could halve the cost of installing new switchboard and telephone equipment, and that its service for business users could save them up to 60 per cent on local and national calls, 20 per cent on calls to mobiles and 80 per cent on international calls.

Nortel's SMB manager David Forde said the combined product could streamline business operations and costs for small firms across the four provinces.

"Nortel is pleased to support Imagine in providing this exceptional opportunity for the SMB sector. We have the pedigree of providing large scale telephony and networking solutions to enterprise customers for over 100 years. We are now using this experience to provide an exciting new range of application-rich telephony solutions which was built from the ground up."

The applications provided by the two firms as part of this package include IP Telephony (VoIP), unified messaging, contact centre services, and mobile working solutions.

Announcing the deal, Imagine chairman and chief executive Sean Bolger said the partnership represents two leading companies coming together to create a "comprehensive and competitive communications solution" for the SMB sector.

"This development will also provide significant opportunities to successful resellers in this sector," he added.

Nortel employs 300 people at its R&D facility in Galway, while Imagine employs 180 people in Dublin and recently announced it is to create over 300 jobs at a new call centre in Armagh. Imagine said its most recent turnover was €50m.

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