Expanding internationally is challenging for UK telecoms resellers due to complex European regulations and strict licensing requirements. To resolve this, Gamma has expanded its Operator Connect solution into Europe through a highly effective tri-party agreement. Accelerated by the strategic acquisition of CoolWave, Gamma now absorbs all international regulatory burdens and compliance risks. This structure ensures resellers retain their primary customer contracts, billing, and relationships. Anchored by Microsoft Teams, the solution safely facilitates seamless global deployments for multinational businesses.
One of the key features of modern solutions is the ability to scale. Whether that’s adding services when things are going well or taking them away when times are tough, being agile enough to give the customer what they need will always serve a business well.
With communication being a fundamental part of business, there is a risk that if resellers cannot keep up with demand, they could lose customers altogether, even if that means expanding across borders.
Expanding reach outside of the UK comes with regulatory requirements that can make the endeavour expensive for all parties or too risky altogether, as Paul Wakefield, Head of Commercial & Strategy Product Management at Gamma explains.
“The regulatory landscape is complex and tightening, particularly across Europe. Each country has its own regulator with different rules and conditions.
“So, for example, Ofcom in the UK would operate differently from one of the other European regulators, and some offer more stringent, and some offer more relaxed ways of doing business and entering those markets. So the fact that there is a plethora of different regulators in and around is a problem.”
“Fundamentally, resellers need to be a licensed operator to sell telecommunication services in a given country. That is a relatively high bar of entry, particularly for smaller channel partners, and that is what has precluded them from doing business internationally previously.”
Connecting Abroad
Gamma has recently expanded its Operator Connect solution into 25 European countries, which can rise to 25 if there is demand in those countries. Using its own network and compliance departments, Gamma has removed the risk of resellers getting tangled up in the regulatory red tape in other countries.
What makes this different from previous attempts to help resellers expand into Europe is that Gamma will enter into a tri-party agreement with the reseller and their customer, taking on the burden of regulations and licences.
Gamma will hold the contract directly with the end customer for the international component only, with the partner keeping the overall customer relationship, main contract, billing, and ongoing ownership. The agreements will be structured so partners still realise the majority of the revenue, with Gamma handling regulatory risk and compliance, enabling partners to retain control of the customer and their P&L.
“We’ve been working on this for about two years,” said Wakefield, “We’ve long been asked for international services, but we didn’t have the infrastructure or commercial proposition.
“The tri-party agreement is central to this because we could sell to the channel, but only if the channel understands the risk and if they aren’t regulated, what they are exposed to, understand the onus on becoming regulated, and jumping through those hoops and maintaining that regulation as well.
“All those things could have been blockers, and we’ve chipped them off. We have the acquisition in place, we’ve looked at the commercial side, we’re still seeing strong customer demand.”
This is not a new idea, though. Gamma attempted to make it easier for resellers to expand into Europe through a traditional revenue-sharing agreement. However, the “catalyst” for this expansion was the acquisition of CoolWave, just over two years ago, which provided many of the answers to the regulatory questions Gamma has faced.
“Since that acquisition, we’ve been working hard to integrate them in terms of business process, consume the regulatory exposure they got, and also build out the international network that they had. That’s the catalyst for this change.
“We’ve tried it in the past, particularly with the dealer commercial structure where they bring us the opportunity and we’ll contract the customer for a revenue share. It doesn’t work for them because they lose the contract with a customer and introduce a third party into the relationship. We could tick the regulatory boxes and give them a solution. Still, it didn’t actually deliver what they needed, which is to own the customer relationship, contract, and send them the invoice.”
A Teams Effort
Wakefield added that Microsoft Teams has been a key enabler of the international expansion. As many organisations are using Teams, and the rest are at least aware of it, the platform has become a “logical anchor” from which Gamma is offering this solution.
“Microsoft Teams is a global communications platform which facilitates multinational deployments,” said Wakefield. “That is what it is designed to do. As partners begin to sell Microsoft, multinational businesses will naturally present themselves as opportunities.
“Teams is Teams. If you understand Teams and can manage that environment, then unlocking telephony is a small but critical component.
“This seems to be a way by which everybody wins. The customer gets the operations; they have a single contract with a single supplier. We keep the partner on the right side of the regulations, and we maintain our partner relationships and expand our capabilities globally as well.”
