Regional wireless and broadband provider C Spire will begin offering the Microsoft Office 365 business package, which includes Microsoft Teams. The cloud-based office suite is enjoying a surge in subscriptions, thanks in part to the pandemic.
C Spire says it will target over 200K businesses in a three state territory with the Microsoft package. C Spire will offer integration advice, a 24/7 local support team, and a self-service portal for the service.
Like many cloud-based services offering collaboration tools, Office 365 and Teams is benefiting from the remote work trend brought on by the pandemic. According to a C Spire press release about the Microsoft launch, Microsoft added 95 million users in 2020 for Teams, with over 500K companies now using the competitor to Zoom and Webex.
“As Covid-19 has impacted every aspect of our work and life, we’ve narrowed our focus so that we can offer simple and fast solutions and Microsoft Office 365 and its app suite of secure, cloud-based tools is an important part of our success,” said Allen McIntosh, general manager of the C Spire Business division in the press release.
C Spire will offer a variety of packages for the Office 365 application starting at $5 per month per user, up to $57 per month per user. The standard business plan is priced at $12.50 per month per user.
C Spire Business also offers a unified communications platform called UC One, starting at $30 per month per seat. C Spire Business targets businesses in Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. The regional carrier operates an 11k mile fiber network across the southeast, reaching 2,500 buildings.
Carriers, large and small, are turning to services like Teams and Office 365 to engage SMB customers and generate incremental business services revenue. Consolidated announced last October it was expanding its Office 365 reach to the carrier’s entire footprint.
