Frontier Communications has inked a deal to be a channel sales agent for AT&T for voice and data cellular plans, as reported by the Fool. "This was a natural extension of a product that we are not currently offering that would fit well with our product suite," Steve Crosby, Frontier's senior vice president of government affairs and public relations. At least they realize that cellular is an important part of the total telecom send. Do you?

When master agent,TBI, launched its SAAS-based TEM platform, Geoff Yearack, director of TBI's wireless division, stated that it was a way to aid agents with getting some of the wireless spend of clients.

Agents have to start looking at ways to get more of the telecom wallet as that budget is absorbed into the IT budget. The simple approach is to offer TEM to your clients. Another approach is to offer asset management. To tie into cyber-security, laptops, data cards, mi-fi gadgets, tablets and smartphones not only need to be tracked by businesses but secured against data theft and loss.

Cbeyond, XO, TelePacific and other CLEC's are offering cellular plans in conjunction with Dynamic T1 and other services. With the average T1 price at an all time low, it's one way to increase ARPU or MRR -- and in turn, increase commissions.

Sprint recently raised $4B in a debt offering in order to pay for network upgrades for "iPhone and its Network Vision network modernization plan". Rumor is that some of it will be used for Clearwire build-out, which seems likely given that Clearwire has some of Sprint's spectrum and has been Sprint's 4G partner. How do you hang that up now? But it goes to show that even after the billions already spent by the the cellcos - VZW, ATT, Sprint, Clearwire, and even MetroPCS - billions more will have to be spent to -- not buy more spectrum -- but to just deploy the spectrum they are currently sitting on, for tower backhaul and for network management. Big pie there that Agents need to take a piece of.

There is a whole lot of truth to this statement from the FCC: "American small businesses are key drivers of innovation, economic growth and job creation. Small businesses employ more than HALF of all private sector workers, and they have generated about two-thirds of net new jobs over the past 15 years. Small businesses drive innovation, producing 13 times more patents per employee than large firms."

The FCC goes on to explain that "Broadband and information technology is increasingly important to the success of our economy, to jobs and to the future of small business. Broadband connectivity and online business tools are powerful factors in small businesses reaching new markets, increasing productivity and efficiency, and generating economic growth. A recent study found that having a broadband connection makes a $200,000 a year difference in median annual revenues for businesses."

When you couple that with the ever increasing number of hacks - whether for identity theft or credit card numbers or corporate data - cyber-security becomes important. Add IP-PBX and VoIP lines to the mix and security isn't something that should be forgotten or left off due to the budget line expense. But it does. And it has a cost.

The FCC, as part of National Cyber-Security Month, joined with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and several corporate executives to unveil a new FCC online tool-- the Small Biz Cyber Planner. "The planner is an easy-to-use, free online tool that will create a customized planning guide to help small businesses protect themselves from cyber-security threats."

Symantec and The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) released results of a survey finding that only 52% of small businesses have a cyber-security plan or strategy. That's not really surprising because most think it won't happen to me. Yet the statistic remains that a new computer attached to the Internet takes less than 20 minutes to be attacked.

"The survey also found 77% of small businesses do not have a formal Internet security policy for employees." This is an example of how you can help your clients by pointing this out and having a discussion about security measures - even simple ones like password management and usage. And as data moves to the Cloud, access security via devices becomes more troubling and requires written policies in place that are closely followed.