CMA Communications expands voice and data services into enterprise market with IBBS Commercial Services

CMA to leverage IBBS hosted applications and business class support for commercial rollout

DALLAS and ATLANTA - CMA Communications today announced that it will expand its business services offerings into the enterprise market by leveraging the IBBS Commercial Services portfolio of voice, data and professional services. CMA will go to market using an array of IBBS services including enterprise voice solutions, hosted applications, and business class customer care.

The Dallas-based cable company has long benefitted from IBBS' suite of Service Activation and Service Assurance services for critical back-office support.  The company relies upon IBBS' modem provisioning services, voice services provisioning and network diagnostics tools to support its customers and conduct operations. In addition, CMA has offered IBBS voice services including line replacement to its residential and small business customers in a majority of the company's market footprint.

Building upon the success of those services, CMA will now offer enterprise voice and data solutions. CMA will provide SIP trunking and hosted PBX services, allowing enterprises to take advantage of lower cost voice solutions with the flexibility to fit requirements for each business. CMA will also offer IBBS' business productivity and data security applications, including hosted collaboration tools, remote storage, managed firewall, and VPN solutions. CMA's clients will be able to take advantage of these services without investing in the hardware and on-site IT support that would otherwise be required.

In addition to deploying IBBS services, CMA will direct Tier 2 technical and customer support calls to IBBS' Cartersville, Ga. call center where in-house representatives will provide business class advanced support. IBBS' business class support includes proactive, 24/7 surveillance of CMA's business customers on an individual basis using advanced network monitoring tools that provide detailed alerts and network notifications in real time. These professionally managed services offer flexibility and opportunity to support advanced offerings without CMA having to make costly technology investments.

"We've earned the distinction in our markets as a high-quality provider of advanced residential and business cable and telecommunications services," said Steve Sizemore, director of operations at CMA Communications. "We credit much of our success to our partnership with IBBS that allows us to rapidly provision customers and deliver reliable services. Our experience with IBBS in the residential market gives us great confidence that our foray into the commercial segment will be equally successful."

CMA recognizes that the commercial services market represents a lucrative and untapped market opportunity, and its strategy accounts for long-term growth in the commercial services market. According to a Pike & Fischer white paper, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cable operators' commercial services revenue exceeded $330 million in 2009. The commercial market is expected to exceed $1.5 billion in revenue by 2013.

"IBBS Commercial Services are designed to help cable operators quickly get to market, gain share and generate new revenue streams," said Dave Keil, CEO at IBBS. "We're delighted that CMA chose to advance with us and leverage our expertise in tapping cable's next big market opportunity."

About CMA Communications

For more than 20 years, CMA Communications has been a leading provider of cable television service to rural communities in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Nevada. Today, CMA offers a broad variety of digital cable television, high-speed Internet and telephone service to homes and businesses throughout its service area. In today's increasingly competitive marketplace, CMA Communications continues to provide a 'local' flavor to its business. The company maintains local payment offices in most communities and employs local and regional technical and service staffs. At the same time, CMA strives to provide cutting edge products to its communities. Among small cable operators, the company has been a leader in high-speed Internet and digital telephone technology. CMA Communications is an independent company focused on its customers, employees and communities. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, CMA Communications is a division of ETAN Industries. More at http://cmaaccess.com