OVERLAND PARK, Kan.—The National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC), representing more than 700 independent broadband and pay TV providers, has launched a Connectivity Exchange that is designed to help its members successfully bid on providing broadband services to large scale commercial customers.
"We now have an integrated ecommerce platform that brings wholesale buyers and sellers together to make the RFP process for our members more turnkey and easier for doing business,” explained Lou Borrelli, CEO of NCTC. “Buyers can find connectivity for hard-to-reach places through a single platform. Plus, all connectivity providers are under the same agreement with consolidated billing, which makes it easier for our members to do business."
NCTC's Connectivity Exchange will aggregate NCTC members' individual networks — small and large — to create a unified network that has the potential to reach approximately one-third of the buildings in the United States, the association said.
By aggregating the member networks, the fully built and integrated platform will allow member operators to compete for and win bids to provide broadband network services to large-scale commercial customers through a members-only, buying and selling platform, the NCTC said.
In addition, the innovative platform offers automated quote-to-order processes with unified billing and support.
NCTC's Connectivity Exchange is built on a strategic partnership with Connectbase, which provides serviceability and pricing services to participating member companies. NCTC's members' nearly 100,000 locations within the Connectbase platform creates an aggregate network that is automatically surfaced to prospective wholesale network buyers using the platform. Their platform enables NCTC members to streamline their wholesale buying and purchasing.
"By joining Connectivity Exchange, NCTC's member operators can unlock new revenue opportunities by extending broadband network sales efforts to customers and markets they may not have been able to reach previously,” explained Ben Edmond, CEO of Connectbase.
