Broadband Operations Unplugged: Setting the Stage for Success in Municipal Broadband
Stephen Finn
October 8, 2024
Welcome to the first in a series of educational blogs designed to help municipal employees and decision-makers better understand the broader responsibilities that come with being a broadband operator. My journey in this industry began before DOCSIS became the cable modem standard and when Fiber to the Home (FTTH) was just a distant dream without a clear purpose.
Much has changed since those early days. While I don’t claim to be an expert in every aspect of broadband, my experiences have given me unique insights—particularly in the area of operations, where the real challenges often begin once the first customers are brought online. After the initial excitement wears off and customers become accustomed to high-speed service, the operational honeymoon is over. Suddenly, customers and taxpayers start demanding consistently excellent service, treating the internet as the critical utility it has become.
In my work helping municipal and regional broadband providers start operating their services, I’ve noticed a common pattern: new operators tend to focus heavily on building the network and getting customers on board to start recouping costs. While this is necessary, the urgency often causes leaders to overlook the operational difficulties looming.
Leaders face immense pressure to start generating revenue, often leading them to prioritize one type of hire: builders. These are the people who construct the network and get it up and running. However, this focus can overshadow the importance of another crucial group—customer-facing employees who excel at providing an outstanding customer experience. Of course, there are exceptions, but most people in the industry fall somewhere on this continuum:
Network Builders: Skilled at designing and constructing robust network infrastructure.
Network Operators: Focused on maintaining the network and ensuring a superior customer experience.
Whether you’re a C-level executive or an entry-level employee at a broadband provider, it’s essential to recognize that this balance exists. Why? Those of us who build networks need guardrails—processes and systems—to operate within to protect the customer experience. This need has led to a critical industry: Telecom Operations and Operational Support Systems (OSS). These systems ensure that technical experts like myself don’t make impulsive changes to the network without careful reflection and structured processes.
Before diving into the deeper issues of broadband operations, I want to share my perspective on the key areas of focus for Broadband Provider Operations based on my experience:
1. Network Operations Center (NOC):
The NOC is the central hub for monitoring and managing the network infrastructure, ensuring optimal performance, reliability, and quick resolution of any issues. It’s the nerve center of your operations, where you can see everything happening in your network in real-time.
2. Service Assurance:
This area is focused on maintaining the quality and reliability of services, ensuring that customer expectations for performance and uptime are consistently met. It’s also where you’ll need to think about product service levels and service level agreements (SLAs) with critical customers, including municipal departments.
3. Provisioning:
Provisioning involves setting up and configuring new services for customers, and translating orders into technical implementations within the network that bring a new customer online. While there are excellent tools for this on the software side, it’s also possible to manage it internally with the right software team. This is usually straightforward for residential and small business customers, though larger customers often require more intricate configurations, typically done via the command line interface (CLI).
4. Service Delivery:
Service delivery ensures customer services are delivered on time and according to specifications, coordinating between different teams to meet customer needs. This area is closely related to provisioning but focuses on meeting the standard installation time promised to the customer.
5. Field Operations
Field operations handle the physical installation, maintenance, and repair of network infrastructure. This includes managing on-site tasks that keep the network running smoothly, such as fiber splicing after a cut, HVAC system maintenance, UPS and generator management, and ensuring the physical security of buildings.
6. Customer Care:
Customer care is the frontline support team that interacts directly with customers, resolving issues, answering questions, and ensuring a positive experience with the service provider. These employees are crucial for maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Understanding these operational areas is critical for anyone involved in broadband service delivery, especially in a municipal context. As you’ll see in the upcoming blogs, each area presents its own challenges and opportunities, and getting them right is key to providing the high-quality service that your customers expect.
Stay tuned as we delve deeper into these areas, starting with an in-depth look at Network Operations Centers (NOCs) and how they can make or break your broadband service.
Follow our LinkedIn page for more operations insights for Municipalities and Hydro Utilities building fiber.
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