Delivering Broadband Why Collaboration is Critical to Bringing First-Class Internet Services to Rural Communities

Transcription

1 Delivering Broadband Why Collaboration is Critical to Bringing First-Class Internet Services to Rural Communities Craig Gates, CEO Triangle Communications Hill Country Electric Coop.

2 2 Coops, 160 Employees, 12 Departments Triangle operates 39 exchanges located in 16 MT counties (23,000 square mile service area from the Canadian to WY borders in Central MT) HCE provides electric services along 3,102 miles of line within 7,183 square miles to approximately 3,900 meters.

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4 Business Considerations Regulatory Issues

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6 Everyone Has to $ell Not Just CSRs & Marketing All Staff Needs to Be: Knowledgeable About Customer Behaviors Broadband Savvy Aware of Network Capabilities

7 Employee Training, Sales Culture & CX Customized training sessions ensure your entire staff receives consistent information that builds a salesoriented company culture to help meet and exceed company goals and objectives.

8 Ongoing (Sales) Training is Critical Increases sales and profits Reduces onboarding ramp-up time Creates culture of performance Keeps all-star sales performers Reinforces accountability and transparency Helps meet goals Company Wide (Everyone needs to sell) Don't Just Use Your Vendors

9 Board Training Timing and Frequency Education Expectations and Goals Creates Brand Ambassadors

10 Craig Gates, CEO Triangle Communications Hill Country Electric Cooperative

11 Technical Collaboration Imperatives for Rural Broadband Networks

12 Technical Collaboration Imperatives for Rural Broadband Networks Influenced by Three Rural Broadband Mega-Trends 1. Strategic Ownership by Electric Cooperatives 2. Technology Convergence 3. Regional Consolidation

13 Technical Collaboration Mega-Trend One 1. Strategic Ownership by Electric Cooperatives Proactive leadership (Digital Divide) Long-term game plan (financially feasible technology migration) Community economic development

14 Coops will be central in bridging the rural broadband gap The correlation between density and broadband availability is clear as is the need for cooperative leadership in the solution Population Density America s Electric Cooperatives Broadband Availability 35

15 Diverse terrain and low density create a unique challenge for delivering affordable broadband 36

16 Technical collaboration required for every phase of the Rural Broadband Lifecycle EVALUATE DESIGN/BUILD OPERATE Feasibility Assessment and Network Planning Engineering Design and Project Management Operations Planning and Outsourced Support Fiber & Fixed Wireless Technology Selection Financial Plans Engineering Design & Mapping Construction Management Marketing and Sales Billing & Back Office Funding and Grant Support Competitive & Market Analysis Core IP network buildout Vendor Management Interoperability Analysis Video Programming Network Operations Center Customer Care 37

17 Technical Collaboration Mega-Trend Two 2. Technology Convergence Broadband Communication not Internet Electric/Telecom Fiber Backbone as Core Technology Enabler Multiple last mile solutions Outside/inside home

18 Product, Vendor, and/or Technology specific solutions quite simply do not work Navigating technology options can be difficult and vendors will always tell you that their product is the right option 39

19 Prediction (not so bold anymore... ) Within the next ten years... Most rural electric cooperatives will overbuild their electric grid with a two-way, highspeed broadband communications network: With a thick, redundant fiber optic backbone at its core To serve an electric purpose to enable smart-grid/smart home/iot applications. 40

20 As we evolve to the true Smart Grid, we will need more data from more end points on a more frequent basis 1 More information and control from an expanding array of end points Distribution automation Demand response/ Load Control Load balancing Transformer Monitoring Smart Capacitor Control Power quality Outage Detection SCADA High Voltage Line Temperature & Weather Sensors Distributed Energy Resources Electric vehicles Energy storage 2 More frequent information to enable real time grid analytics and pricing options such as Time of Use pricing and Critical Peak pricing The true vision of the Smart Grid 41

21 The Foundation of the Rural Broadband Network Step 1: A robust communications network to support Smart Grid, feed Broadband and connect IoT Substation Substation Main office Secondary office Substation Substation 42

22 Rural broadband networks will continue to require multiple last mile technologies Fiber to the Home Fixed Wireless Satellite Broadband 43

23 Electric coops can evolve their networks over time using a mix of technologies An expanding number of endpoints Connected using a mix of technologies can evaluate extending broadband to community Fiber Backbone Licensed RF or cellular Fiber to the Home AMI Mesh Networks Microwave Wireless Broadband Substation 44

24 Technical Collaboration Mega-Trend Three 3. Regional Consolidation Partnership/Collaboration Options Expanding boundaries Serving Donut Hole communities

25 Leveraging each other s assets present opportunities for growth and cost savings Do your territories overlap? There are ways to cooperate in both situations Electric Cooperative Telephone Cooperative Share assets in overlapping territories Towers Rights of way Systems Best practices Pool contracts Evaluate cooperation for expanding in non-overlapping territories Possible joint efforts 4 6

26 Last mile is different for every network Electrics Cellular Wired Future 3.5 GHz Licensed RF Unlicensed Mesh RF Licensed RF Fiber PON Twisted Pair Copper (DSL) Fiber PON Coaxial Cable 47

27 Partnership can take many forms! Less Involvement Greater Involvement Vendor Relationship Marketing/Operating Partnership Joint Venture Merger Come and go Someone owns it, someone else runs or sells it More skin in the game for both Leverage your strengths, assets Not likely How do you merge culture, boards? 4 8

28 Together, we can solve this problem for our communities We can bring quality broadband to Rural America and we will do this by solving both the technical and financial equations 49

29 Questions?