AT&T and BT Reach Commercial Inter-provider Managed Cisco Telepresence Launch

Event Summary

November 30, 2010 — AT&T and BT have announced inter-provider telepresence services for their respective business customers. Telepresence clients can connect across the partner network to reach off-net video endpoints. AT&T and BT promise customers a smooth and consistent service experience: The provider initiating the conference supplies its tools and applications, and each provider supports its own endpoints. AT&T and BT will add access to each others' telepresence directories, and support for inter-provider video encryption. Together, AT&T and BT connect about 2,000 telepresence endpoints.

Quick Take

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Positive for AT&T and BT to announce a launch date for inter-provider telepresence, because they are the two largest providers of Cisco telepresence services in the industry. Unlike pre-announcements of inter-provider agreements to date, AT&T and BT committed to a firm launch date, and confirmed details about processes and plans that other announced inter-provider partnerships have not yet firmed up.

• Vendor Importance: High both to AT&T and BT because the two companies have put a network interconnection and the standard processes into place that will let their respective clients set up and conduct inter-provider Cisco telepresence sessions, growing the universe of reachable endpoints. Orange Business Services, Tata and Telefónica are other competitors that have disclosed they are collaborating to reach similar deals; but the AT&T-BT agreement puts pressure on rivals, as they represent the two Cisco TelePresence System (TPS) industry competitors with the largest market share.

• Market Impact: High on competitors in telepresence, because AT&T and BT are Cisco telepresence market leaders that collectively reach nearly 2,000 telepresence rooms (though this count includes 800+ telepresence rooms internal to Cisco Systems, which interconnect to several providers). Commercial inter-provider telpresence marks a huge milestone, but the carriers still have development work ahead, for example to add an inter-provider directory; support inter-platform conferencing across providers; and fully automate inter-provider scheduling tools.

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