TCSP Overview

The April 4th, 2023, Telarus Tuesday call welcomed Richard Murray, Chief Commercial Officer, Telarus, Bill Power, President, TCSP, and Darcee Nelan, Chief Executive Officer, IQ Wired.  Richard Murray, Bill Power, and Darcee Nelan discussed why the agent community must organize to influence change within the FCC. Learn how this will affect agents and how they can conduct their business.  The entire recording can be viewed here. 

About TCSP

The TCSP was formed in response to government rules that banned agents in healthcare accounts and blocked earned commissions. Several prominent Technology Solution Brokerages and direct selling agencies created and funded the TCSP in late 2020 to combat recent FCC regulations prohibiting commissioned sales agents from providing and supporting provider-diverse technology and connectivity solutions to healthcare customers. In addition to representing agent interests related to the Rural Health Care Program, the TCSP has taken on an augmented role to promote the channel and ensure future federal legislation and regulations aren’t detrimental to sales agents. 

TECHNOLOGY CHANNEL SALES PROFESSIONAL’S History

In 2019 the FCC passed a very detrimental ruling barring agents from receiving commissions for services they sold to customers participating in the Rural Healthcare Program (RHC) starting July 1, 2020. While some commissions were temporarily protected due to being grandfathered, Service providers ceased paying commissions for new services in the future due to compliance concerns, and many Agents lost as much as 50% of their commissions overnight. A group of agents convinced the FCC to change those regulations. 

The founding members started out writing letters requesting help from our elected officials. They quickly realized that without representation in Washington, DC, the Agent community was like a sitting duck waiting for the next shoe to drop. We knew we needed to take action, so we formed the Technology Channel Sales Professionals Association (TCSP), collected money, hired a lobbyist, and began the process of fighting for our collective rights. 

The TCSP has been working with stakeholders, including the Agent community, US Telecom Association, and Wiley Law, our Attorney/Lobbyist, to represent our interests with the FCC, and is aggressively pursuing changes to the original ruling that barred agents from receiving commissions for services sold to participants in the RHC program.

Beyond health care, the FCC has stated its intent to “harmonize” the rules and definitions governing the programs administered under USAC, including E-Rate, potentially costing Agents even more in lost commissions and opportunities. We cannot let this new threat to our livelihood go unchecked.  

We’ve learned many valuable lessons over the past three years. Our industry has grown to the point where we have caught the eye of investors and regulators. Our go-forward strategy, as a community, must account for continuous change, including new opportunities and threats, before they materialize in our environment. 

COLLABORATION PRODUCES BETTER OUTCOMES

As the founders of the TCSP formed a collective voice to fight the FCC ruling, we recognized the benefits of collaboration and the potential impact a non-profit organization could have on the entire industry.

Having established a platform to combat the FCC ruling, the association’s board of directors is now focused on expanding TCSP into a mature, fully functional trade association for the agent channel. 

Large or small, direct seller, TSB, or service provider, the TCSP provides a critical voice for the agent channel. 

TCSP Focus 

• Independent industry watchdog for the channel sales community. 
• Educate government regulators and fight initiatives that hurt our industry and our businesses. 
• Advocate for agents’ positions on important industry and channel issues. 
• Forum for direct selling agents, with valuable participation of service providers and technology services brokers. 
• Develop and administer self-certification programs to comply with providers’ requirements to sell to USAC-subsidized customers. 
• Produce training programs on business issues of concern to agents. 
• Develop networking opportunities and peer groups for direct selling agents. 
  

To learn more about TCSP, visit TCSP.org.