Windstream Channel To Be Led By Matt Milliron As Curt Allen Moves Into Advisory Role

Windstream is replacing its current channel chief, Curt Allen, with Matt Milliron, currently its vice president of channel sales, in an effort to more tightly tie enterprise sales resources to partner resources.

Windstream is promoting Matt Milliron, the carrier's current vice president of channel sales, to channel chief, the carrier said Friday.

Milliron is replacing Curt Allen, president of strategic channels for Windstream and the company's current channel chief. Windstream said that Allen will move into an advisory role following the partner program's transition to Milliron's leadership.

Little Rock, Ark.-based Windstream said that the move was planned as Allen was brought in two years ago and tasked with managing the carrier's efforts through the initial phases of restructuring its channel focus.

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[Related: Windstream Partner Base To Be Slashed Following Bankruptcy Filing]

Windstream in 2016 eliminated SMB accounts worth under $1,500 a month, saying at the time that it wouldn't accept new orders from channel partners under that threshold. Windstream's former channel chief, Olen Scott, told CRN in 2017 that the company would reverse its decision and open small business customer accounts back up to partners selling Unified Communications as a Service and SD-WAN.

Following its bankruptcy filing in February, Windstream in April said it would be cutting contracts with partners that have fallen below the annual threshold of $5,000 in business.

Milliron will be leading both channel and resale programs and will report to Shawn Murray, Windstream's executive vice president of enterprise sales. Allen, in his new role, will stay on as “the face of Windstream to the partner community,” the company said.

The reshuffle, Windstream said, is part of an initiative to foster collaboration with Windstream Enterprise direct sales and provide additional resources to the partner community of MSPs and agents.

“This realignment is an important step in our transition to create a more tightly integrated and highly effective sales organization,” said Layne Levine, president of Windstream Enterprise and Wholesale, in a statement.

Windstream in February filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after defaulting on its bonds in 2015. The company then kicked off a "voluntary reorganization" of the company. The carrier in January also sold off its consumer assets that it acquired from its Earthlink acquisition in 2017.

The carrier in April filed a lawsuit against Charter Communications, alleging its telecom rival had launched an all-out “scare-tactic campaign” and was using "bait and switch" efforts to attract Windstream’s customers to Charter’s Spectrum brand in the wake of its bankruptcy filing.