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June 6, 2021

Community Broadband Makes a Difference

The following transcript has been edited for length and readability. Listen to the entire discussion here on The Broadband BunchThe Broadband Bunch is sponsored by ETI Software.

Our guest today serves as Ting City Manager in Charlottesville, Virginia, and also serves on the Local Chamber Board of Directors: Kara Chandeysson.  She gives a description of how community broadband can win with knowledge and commitment to their customer base. In the episode, we discuss:

  • The Ting Story
  • The Ting Customer Service Story
  • Gig Service Ting Towns
  • Demand for Fiber to the Home
  • Providing Gigabit Fiber Services
  • Federal Funding Impact
  • Ting’s Commitment to Community

Craig Corbin:

Welcome to the Broadband Bunch, a podcast about broadband and how it impacts all of us. Join us to learn about the state of the industry and the latest innovations and trends. The Broadband Bunch as always is sponsored by ETI Software.

Craig Corbin:

When Ting launched their quest to redefine the mobile and internet industries, one of the first locales they targeted was Charlottesville, Virginia, that’s where the longest section of the Blue Ridge Parkway is, home to the University of Virginia and gateway to the beautiful Shenandoah National Park. Ting’s operation there was honored recently by the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council as their Business of the Year. Our guest today serves as Ting City Manager in Charlottesville and also serves on the Local Chamber Board of Directors. It is a pleasure to introduce Kara Chandeysson. Kara, welcome to the Broadband Bunch.

Kara Chandeysson:

Thank you, Craig. That was an incredible introduction. I have to tell you, it gave me chills. I’m so proud to be the city manager of Ting after that introduction. So, thank you.

Craig Corbin:

Absolutely. That is such a wonderful area of the country. The Commonwealth of Virginia, beautiful all over. But having spent some time in Southside Virginia, well familiar with that and just a gorgeous area. It has to be a pleasure to work in such a picturesque city. And before we get into Ting’s operations there, let’s get started for those who might not know your background in the industry and how you wound up being the city manager for Ting in Charlottesville.

The Ting Story

Kara Chandeysson:

Well, it’s a bit of a long story. I’ve been in the telecom industry for over 20 years. And started my career with Bell Atlantic in Wilmington, Delaware. Actually working the evening shift from 7:00 PM to 7:00 AM, managing all of the CO alarms at the time. And then moved around within Bell Atlantic to managing provisioning teams, to installation and construction teams. And then moved over into our wholesale side of the business at Verizon at the time. And worked in external affairs and regulatory. And then landed with fiber optics, doing some market development and also working on our new product at the time, which was Fios. So, ended my career at Verizon. And took a few years off actually to stay at home with my young children and enjoy that time thoroughly. And then, started following Ting in Charlottesville and was fortunate enough to apply and interview and became the city manager of Ting Charlottesville over three and a half years ago.

Craig Corbin:

Well, that’s exciting. And obviously, your background lend itself perfectly to that role. And knowing the importance that Ting has placed on Charlottesville as one of the very first locales in the family of Ting towns as you refer to them. It had to be obviously both personally and professionally, a wonderful transition for you to make that jump into the Ting world. Talk about that.

Kara Chandeysson:

It was such a welcomed opportunity for me, not only to be working for Ting but actually to be working back in the telecom industry, broadband industry. When I left Verizon, I was actually commuting from Charlottesville back to the Washington DC area for quite a few years. So I was not only anxious to be in a position where I could actually work and live in the same town, but also, as you mentioned, much of my experience with Verizon and Bell Atlantic really lends to what I do now with Ting as the city manager. And I’m thoroughly enjoying my position and what I do for Ting. I couldn’t be happier.

The Ting Customer Service Story

Craig Corbin:

One of the big reasons for Ting’s success regardless of what city or town they’re serving is the phenomenal track record of customer service. And I think that has been, at least from outsider’s perspective, one of the most important differentiators. When you come into a market as a disruptor, you have to find a way to differentiate yourself. Obviously, the importance on focusing on customer service has been front and center from day one with Ting. Talk about that aspect of the operation.

Kara Chandeysson:

Our expansion as we move and grow Ting Internet into new Ting towns is quite thoughtful. We continue to have that startup culture and mentality amongst all of our team members. But what we know and what we do best is marketing and branding. And as you mentioned, we are 110% customer-centric. And it’s a true differentiator. When we go into towns, we not only make sure that we are acquiring customers, but we get to know our customer base. And that is a true differentiator with Ting compared to other competitors throughout all of our towns.

Gig Service Ting Towns

Craig Corbin:

I would assume also that your product portfolio is a wonderful differentiator with regard to being able to provide Gig service in all the Ting towns that are being served. Because if there’s ever been a time in the last 18 months where the need for bandwidth with working at home, distance learning, telehealth, you name it, that obviously has been something that was no longer a luxury, but essential or necessity for existence.

Kara Chandeysson:

The last two years have really been a challenge for many of the companies in our field. But for Ting, our focus first and foremost is customers. We fundamentally believe that everyone should have the ability and access to the internet. So during the pandemic, we really went into the mode of how can we provide our services to as many people as possible, so they cannot only continue to work from home or a shared location but actually do some of their education from home, telehealth, government services, making sure that we were connecting people was our goal during the pandemic. In Charlottesville, one of the first things we did was we provided a fiber-fed wifi location in Central Charlottesville in the city. People could easily get to that location. It’s a large parking lot. We’ve got great gigabit fed wifi at that location. And we still provide that service for free for people that need to access the internet.

Craig Corbin:

That’s phenomenal.

Kara Chandeysson:

We’ve done quite a few other projects, another partnering with community members, but that was first and foremost. That’s what we did to help the city of Charlottesville.

Craig Corbin:

I know there was also another project that you were involved in, that involved the YMCA. Talk about that if you would.

Kara Chandeysson:

The Brooks Family YMCA was a location that we were fortunate we had fiber at that location. And the YMCA really stepped up and opened its doors to change the kind of structure, the logistics of the YMCA and opened its doors to students and families that needed to continue to work. But knowing that their children were going to be at home for their schooling, they needed a place for those kids to go and access schooling. So, the YMCA opened its doors to over 100 students and really gave those students the opportunity to be in a safe and secure environment with adults that could help them throughout the day. And Ting provided the internet access for the YMCA for that school year.

Craig Corbin:

When we talk about the need for broadband access, and especially over the last year and a half, and what that meant to so many of the residents in and around Charlottesville, one of the things that we tend to overlook are the challenges that are inherent with providing that service from the standpoint of something as simple as the installation process. And I would assume that it was not status quo. It was not business as usual that you probably had to make adjustments to the normal protocol. Share with us how Ting addressed the challenges that COVID brought from an installation standpoint.

Demand for Fiber to the Home

Kara Chandeysson:

It was an interesting question that you’re presenting because when this happened and we saw the demand start to increase pretty rapidly for our product, our installation, construction, product team quickly realized that we were in a bit of a predicament because as you know, providing fiber to the home involves an installation team and installers that have to go inside of the home to connect the fiber with the customer equipment. And we had to go back to the drawing board. And instead of taking risks for our customer base and taking risks with our employees and our installers, we actually halted all of our installations for a couple of weeks and developed a process and a product that enabled our team to be on the outside of the house and work with the homeowner or business owner inside of their brick and mortar location to allow that fiber to come through the home, work together as a team to do the installation.

Kara Chandeysson:

And what that allowed us to do was to continue to install, but we were able to keep both our installers and our customers safe and not in close proximity to each other. So a lot of people would question me during the pandemic with, wow, Ting must be so busy with installations. And yes, it’s true. We saw our numbers greatly increased, the demand was there. But as mentioned, we decided it was best to protect our employees and customers, and redefine and re-engineer that process. We actually had our product teamwork with one of our other Ting towns in Westminster, Maryland that has a maker space and develop a product that would allow us to fish that fiber through the home and keep everyone safe but yet still be able to provide gigabit fiber services with Ting.

Craig Corbin:

Our guest today, the Ting City Manager of Charlottesville, Virginia, Kara Chandeysson. And Kara, you talk about the changes that had to take place with regard to the installation process. And I know that staffing obviously was a constant day-to-day challenge given how everyone dealt with the pandemic. But obviously, the city responded well to what Ting was able to provide. And I wanted to get back to something I mentioned in the open. And that was the recognition by the Local Business Innovation Council and honoring your operation there in Charlottesville as their Business of the Year. That’s a tremendous honor. Talk about what it was like when you learned that honor was going to be bestowed upon your team.

Providing Gigabit Fiber Services

Kara Chandeysson:

It absolutely was a huge honor for Ting. In Ting Charlottesville, we’ve been in the market for five and a half years. And we continually try to make sure that we are serving our customers, not only with the fiber product and fiber internet that we provide but also one of our main goals is connecting the community, being creative, making sure that we’re supporting everyone that we can to make sure people have access to the internet. And we had been partnering with CBIC, which is the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council for quite some time. It’s a great organization that attracts businesses, startups, folks in the technology industry. It gives them a place to meet and talk and really learn about industry standards, about growth in our area and in the state of Virginia in the technology fields.

Kara Chandeysson:

So it was quite an honor to be recognized by CBIC as Business of the Year. Every year CBIC has a grand gala event and normally has upwards to 300 people in our community attend. And it’s a great time. And this year when we won the award, it was a virtual event. So it was a little bittersweet, but I have to say, CBIC being the technology council for Charlottesville, hit it out of the park. And it was the first virtual gala I attended. And it was an excellent evening. And we were just so pleased to receive that award.

Craig Corbin:

That’s exciting. And congratulations to you and your team for a well-deserved honor. I’m also curious, I know that you give time to serve on the Local Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, and we’re always intrigued to know what role the service providers in any market around the country, what difference that makes with regard to attracting new industry, new business? From the perspective of what you do with the Chamber, what have you seen as far as what Ting brings to the table?

Kara Chandeysson:

Well, I’ve been involved with the Chamber since joining the Ting team. And this past year, I became a member of the board of directors with the Chamber. I fully believe and support what our Chamber of Commerce does here in Charlottesville, Virginia. We’re under the direction of Elizabeth Cromwell. And her leadership has really benefited the businesses here in Charlottesville. They were most supportive and creative during COVID. During the pandemic, we as the Chamber, partnered with numerous public sector, as well as private sector organizations to start an initiative called Project Rebound. And this was an amazing initiative that brought business leaders and public leaders like I’ve mentioned together to determine what we can do as a community, as a business community, to continue to drive economic growth within the area. And this group still continues to meet. There are initiatives that we put in place that continued to help small businesses. The Chamber has done a great job attracting new businesses in the area. And so, I’m quite happy and really fortunate to be part of the Chamber here.

Craig Corbin:

That’s intriguing because I know that obviously, Charlottesville is heavily dependent upon the university being located there. And that’s the same across the country in many university towns. But it’s great that Ting is playing a role in strengthening the foundation from a commercial standpoint in the area. I’m also intrigued with the footprint being served there at present and if there are plans or hope for expanding that. If you would address that for us, Kara.

Kara Chandeysson:

The first part of your question was just the presence that the University of Virginia has in our local economy. It is quite strong. We’re very proud supporters of the University of Virginia. And as you may know, Ting supports provides the fiber-fed infrastructure to the stadiums for the University of Virginia. So the slick ball as well as the basketball stadium, we provide fiber into those stadiums and then have wifi that’s free to the public. And we’re very happy to provide that robust and seamless wifi connection at those locations. For Ting Charlottesville for growth, we are currently building a bit outside of the city of Charlottesville. And we’ll continue to do that over the next few years. But we also have quite a bit of a build to continue in the city of Charlottesville. And we’re working with the city to help us to continue with that city build. It is our goal to build out to all of the city of Charlottesville and making sure that we’re supporting the surrounding neighborhoods outside of Charlottesville as well.

Federal Funding Impact

Craig Corbin:

That’s exciting. I know you made mention when we began the conversation about your background with Verizon, the number of years that you spent there. And I think in large part, on the regulatory side. But in your current capacity as the city manager there in Charlottesville, a big part of what goes on for any provider today is the pursuit of funding opportunities. And so I know that you and many of the other Ting city managers have sort of been catapulted into the world of federal funding and grant writing. Talk about that part of your responsibility.

Kara Chandeysson:

I feel like my job and something that I love about this industry is that it changes every day. I love the first part of my morning every day is making sure that I’m reading all of the local journals and following the news on what’s happening in the industry. And as you mentioned, just the federal and local funding has just changed tremendously over the last year. With Ting, when we talk about COVID and we talk about the pandemic, it was very important for Ting, in general, to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to provide internet access to people. And when the Emergency Broadband Benefit was introduced, Ting was one of the first in the industry cohort to make sure that we were part of that program. So I would say all of the city managers with Ting are very involved with the EBB program. As mentioned, it strongly aligns with our values of giving back to the towns and giving back to people. So, being involved with EBB is very important.

Kara Chandeysson:

As far as federal funding, many of us have in our towns a broadband authority that we work with, that we partner with. I will say that for Ting, our philosophy and how we’ve grown is really working maybe more in an urban type of environment and less of a rural environment. So although there’s a significant amount of funding for providers, I think many of the providers that have been in areas significantly longer than Ting are better able to take advantage of that funding because they have the network in place or they have fiber in place that really allows them to kind of catapult and build into the rural locations. So Ting, although we’re looking at all grants, we’re looking at all funding, we’re staying true to our course and our mission to make sure that we’re building out the cities and the towns that we’ve partnered with.

Ting’s Commitment to Community

Kara Chandeysson:

Oh, I feel pretty strongly about this and one of the many reasons why I love working for Ting. Ting Charlottesville specifically is partnering with various organizations to provide internet, not only building and bringing fiber internet to organizations but actually sponsoring organizations that can help us with digital literacy. We partner, for example, with an organization called the Computers for Kids. That really is an amazing group of adults that mentor children to help them learn more about what they can do on the internet and the technical side of building the internet as well. We are currently partnering with two organizations in Charlottesville that will enable us to bring fiber to lower-income homes and provide internet services. This is a quite lengthy project as you can imagine because some of these organizations are actually rebuilding and redesigning the homes and the multi-dwelling units to give opportunity and better living conditions for people.

Kara Chandeysson:

But along with those benefits, we’re also providing internet. And I’m very excited and anxious to start some programming like you mentioned. Once we have that internet in, I see much potential for Ting to be involved with potentially mentoring, potentially developing programs for parents to help children that may need assistance with education. I know so many of us that have access to the internet is able to research and find things on the internet that can help our family or help our children. And if as Ting employees, we can share that experience with people so that they can help children, help students, help families. I’m very anxious to do that in the Charlottesville community.

Craig Corbin:

Exactly. And that is so important for the long-term benefits of the area. And so, pleased that is a priority for Ting and then what they’re doing there. I know that when we talk about looking at being invested in the community, there are probably some enjoyable marketing efforts that have taken place over your tenure there in Charlottesville. Anything that stands out that you’ve enjoyed more than the others.

Kara Chandeysson:

Well, this is a hard question, Craig. I feel like I could talk for an entire day on all of our marketing initiatives with Ting because this is the part of our job and the part of what we do that I think we are just the best in the industry. I have to say, as mentioned at the beginning of the interview, we not only provide fiber infrastructure to a town and a great internet service, but we also provide best in class customer service and best in class marketing. So some of the favorite things that we’ve done, most recently this past Friday, we just launched the Ting Pavilion on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall. We partnered with Red Light Management, which manages the pavilion. And so now, we’re in a partnership for the next few years. And that’s been renamed the Ting Pavilion.

Kara Chandeysson:

This is a great opportunity for us because we’re not only aligning ourselves with another very well-established business in Charlottesville and that’s Red Light Management, but we share similar beliefs as a company. We fundamentally believe in giving back to the community. So, partnering with Red Light is going to be just an amazing partnership that we develop over the next few years. I’m very excited to see where that partnership can grow. Our signage is up and it looks phenomenal. And that’s really exciting news for Ting Charlottesville. We’ve also done some great work just in the developments in the neighborhoods where we build fiber. For example, Redfields Community is one of the very first neighborhoods that we built in Charlottesville. There are over 400 homes in that community.

Kara Chandeysson:

And we try to make sure that we’re not only growing our base or customer base in developments but that when we go in and do a marketing or sales event, we are also giving back to the community and we are showing appreciation to our current customers. I feel like that’s another true differentiator for us is not only how we acquire customers, but how we keep our customer base and we keep them satisfied and happy. So on the last day of school this year, we invited the community to a pool party. We had ice cones for appreciation. And we actually had a team there that was able to answer technical questions about Ting and sell to some people that did not sign up for Ting.

Craig Corbin:

I love it. That sounds great. That is always interesting to see how an organization looks to become part of the community. And you guys are doing a phenomenal job with that. It certainly is evidenced by the incredible reception that you’ve had there over the years in Charlottesville. And it’s intriguing for us to watch the development of your organization and very much look forward to continuing to monitor what’s going on and then see the future growth and success. Before we let you go, one of the things that we like to ask of our guests here on the Broadband Bunch is what we refer to as the Back to the Future question. If you could jump in the DeLorean and take yourself back a couple of years, whisper something in your own ear that would change the trajectory or the timeline in some way, shape, or form with what you’ve done there in Charlottesville, what would that be?

Kara Chandeysson:

I had to give a lot of thought to this question. To be honest, there are many different angles and different ways this could be answered. But I think for me, it comes back to our marketing and our customer service and how we differentiate ourselves from others in the industry. And I would say if I could go back 20 years, I would advise Ting to build as fast as we can. Because when we’re out at events and we hear people talking about Ting and when we’re answering our social media questions and responses, the number one question and comment we get is, when can I get Ting? I want Ting. So, I would love to be able to provide this service to as many people as possible. So my answer would be, I wish we could build a little faster and have more people on our network.

Craig Corbin:

I hear you. I agree. And the flip side question would be, pull out the crystal ball. What do you see for the future with Ting there in Charlottesville?

Kara Chandeysson:

Well, I see us continuing to build. I can see us definitely continuing to add to our customer base. And I see us being more and more creative with how we’re acquiring those customers and making our current customer base happy. We’ve done a really great job at aligning ourselves with great partners in the Charlottesville community, in the business sector, in the public sector. So, I want to make sure that we’re continuing to do what we do best. And that provides great gigabit symmetrical fiber internet, as well as making sure that the people that are using our service are satisfied and happy and would be very open and willing to recommend us to friends and family members throughout the country. We’re rapidly growing into other Ting towns. And so, making sure that we have a solid reputation and people are happy in our current 13 Ting towns is important.

Craig Corbin:

That is a winning combination. And we thank you for taking the time to share the story of what’s going on with Ting there in Charlottesville. Congratulations on the phenomenal success that you and your team have achieved there. And we look forward to visiting with you again on down the line, as you continue to grow in that marketplace. A phenomenal job. I can’t thank you enough for being with us today.

Kara Chandeysson:

Thank you, Craig. I appreciate it.

Craig Corbin:

Absolutely. That’s going to wrap up this visit. We thank you for letting us be a part of your day. We’ll see you next time right here on the Broadband Bunch. So long, everyone.