The following transcript has been edited for length and readability. Listen to the entire discussion here on The Broadband Bunch. The Broadband Bunch is sponsored by ETI Software.
Brad Hine:
Hello, everyone in broadband land, this is Brad Hine, your host of The Broadband Bunch. I’m coming to you live from San Diego, California. We’re at the Grand Hyatt Hotel for the annual RTime NTCA meeting here. With us today, I have Render Networks, I have CEO, Sam Pratt, and I have the VP of Customer Operations, Omar Ramadan. Welcome to RTime and welcome to the Broadband Bunch guys.
Sam Pratt:
Thank you, Brad, for having us. It’s terrific to be back on The Bunch.
Brad Hine:
Now this isn’t your first time at RTime, correct?
Sam Pratt:
That’s correct. This is our fourth consecutive year here at Rtime, just participating alongside the industry. And I have to say, it certainly hasn’t slowed down, the rate rate of the rate of pace is only increasing.
Brad Hine:
Well, let’s start off, our audience, anyone in the broadband industry knows of Render Networks, I know you guys have lots of customers globally, but tell us a little bit about your part of the broadband industry.
Sam Pratt:
Certainly. So, listen, Render’s really focused on taking digital construction and all the associated benefits to market, here in the United States primarily, but we’ve also got customers across Asia Pacific. The company was started in Australia, however, really our focus has been fairly and squarely here in the US for well over four years now. We’ve been absolutely delighted with the reception that we’ve received here in the US. And at this point, we have customers across 15 US states and counting, most of our people are based here and we’re busy taking our technology and innovation to market for the benefit of the industry.
Brad Hine:
That’s fabulous. And tell us a little bit about how Render started and the initial vision. I know you just mentioned you started in Australia, so can you relate a little bit of that to our audience?
Sam Pratt:
Yes, certainly. So, a couple of founders, Joe Forbes and Dan Fleming. Dan Fleming’s background as he was formerly the head of construction of the National Broadband Network in Australia. And so, he saw an opportunity to do things better, to use today’s technology to streamline the deployment process. The nature of the ambition of the National Broadband Network in Australia, connecting the entire country effectively to the benefits of fiber, meant that tens of thousands of homes and businesses every single month, thousands of crews needed to be orchestrated across that initiative. And so, Dan’s vision was to solve that with technology and that was effectively the founding premise of Render. That occurred in 2013 and the focus for the business was really on Asia Pacific for the proceeding four or five years and has then since transitioned on the back of the warm reception we’ve had here in the United States in 2018. And we are where we are, we’re having this conversation today.
Brad Hine:
That’s great. So, speaking of footprint, in coming to the US, in North America, where are your deployments around the world? What continents, countries?
Sam Pratt:
Primarily here in the US, also in Australia, and then we have a customer in the UK as well. And we’re focused on expansion globally, but really the primary focus is here in the US. And most of our customers come from the rural side of the market here in the US, so really cooperatives and utilities that are looking to solve the challenges for their communities. That’s where we’ve seen the greatest rate of adoption to this point, but more and more larger providers, multi-state providers, and MSOs are looking for end-to-end digital solutions and we’re delighted to play a role in that segment of the market also.
Brad Hine:
So, regarding your technology, I’ve read a lot about Render, you seem to have an overall philosophy with your technology. Obviously, you’re trying to cut down that timeline and shorten the time it takes during the construction phase, all the way until somebody goes with a broadband product locally. So, talk a little bit about your technology and some of the benefits and how you’re doing that today.
Sam Pratt:
Certainly. So really our philosophy is one of beginning with the end in mind, ensuring that downstream and parallel data requirements are considered before we commence these multi-year infrastructure deployments. We bring to bring that team significant experience from around the world, and lots of lessons learned. We also bring the Render platform, which is focused on delivering networks as efficiently as we can with technology. Really in the design, build, operate, and maintain the lifecycle of a network, our focus is on building, operating, and maintaining. And so, we step in ahead of these projects commencing, between the design and deployment phase, and we effectively ingest that geospatial network design into our platform and then make that available. And all the associated real-time data insights, the improved visibility, and instrumentation of the deployment, we make that data available for the benefit of all stakeholders, contractors, and operators the same.
Brad Hine:
That’s a huge benefit. And being in the industry myself like I have for the last 15 years, it’s important that we have open systems, and we can share data between partners in the ecosystem. I’m really curious, as I’ve seen platforms evolve over the last 15 years since I’ve been in it, I’ve seen a lot more visual cues and a lot more concentration on the user experience and I’ve always been fascinated when GIS becomes more of a front end, like a visual management tool. And when I saw a demo of your product, the first thing I thought of was these guys get it, they really get it. So, talk a little bit about the GIS benefit in technology and how that’s been of advantage to you.
Sam Pratt:
Our philosophy on UI is GIS and so everything relates back to our map, everything relates back to a location. And if we think about our daily lives and just navigating from the airport to this hotel over the last couple of days, that’s native to all of us. It’s native to folks in field crews, as much as it is to anyone else. And so, it’s very important for our technology to be very simple to learn and then easy to use and to drive simplification and standardization in the way that these networks are built, and so that’s effectively our philosophy around UI and design.
Brad Hine:
Especially at this conference, I’m hearing there are more sessions on things like gaming and eSports and some of the bandwidth that we have to support for this, essentially making an end user’s experience more like a video game. I think GIS provides that visual intuitiveness, a little bit more of a video game approach.
Sam Pratt:
Absolutely. And from a field crew standpoint, effectively they want to do as much work as they can in the least possible time. So, they need to know exactly where they need to go, they need to understand what materials they need on the truck before heading out from the warehouse in the morning, and then specifically what data they need to capture to support downstream systems and processes. And so back to my comment about what we’re doing at the start of these projects, we’re beginning with the end in mind. We’re configuring all of those data requirements, we’re solving the problem in the office in collaboration with all contractors, contractors, and all stakeholders rather, operators, representatives, engineers, and construction managers. We’re solving the problem of what task needs to be done in what sequence, collaboratively. We’re then affecting that within our GIS web and mobile platform and we’re allocating those tasks centrally to resources, so they understand where they need to go, and the data they need to capture in order to deliver the network and world-class outcome.
Brad Hine:
I love it. You’re speaking my language. And just as at one time when these smartphones came out, I remember Steve Jobs saying, “You now have 1,000 songs in your pocket, basically on your phone or your iPod or something like that.” So essentially with a mobile interface like you offer, we can have all your projects right in your pocket to view on the mobile side. Talk a little bit about the advantage to that, of just as far as accessibility for the teams that are using your application.
Sam Pratt:
Certainly. So, the status quo instills certainly that the vast majority of projects are using processes that are reliant on manual handoffs and paper-based construction prints, here in 2023. So, avoiding those manual handoffs and not only digitizing a design but taking that design and the problem of how to most effectively and efficiently deliver that design out of the field, back into the office, involving engineers and project managers in determining that optimal build sequence and then effecting that within the Render platform, that’s absolutely key to our point of difference in the market. And then you mentioned 1,00 songs in the pocket. Well, it’s 10,000 digital construction prints in the pocket, so there’s no more paper in the field. And field crews very quickly only needing to attend a location once and capturing 100% of that data and actually mandating that they do and directly linking that to payment, is all possible with today’s technology. And that’s effectively what we’re doing across the 30-plus projects that have been deployed on the platform here in the US today.
Brad Hine:
Exciting, really exciting stuff. And before I get into your personal paths that led both of you into this industry, a word I’m hearing a lot at this conference is automation. Clearly, we can’t replace the human factor in every single process, but how are you viewing automation in part of your process in making it easier for folks to interact with that?
Sam Pratt:
So really core to the value that we’re able to drive with our customers is automating and standardizing scope creation. So, there’s a lot of intellectual horsepower that is put into a design and an engineering process, an ultimate artifact, high-level design, low-level design. Generally speaking, the problem regarding the most effective way to build that design and deliver the assets within it, is then passed over to a contractor and they price that, add some risk to it and then they go about solving it. I think given some of the macro factors that we’re seeing in today’s environment with supply chain and labor shortages, the ability of them to do that to the world’s best practice is diminished.
And so how we think about automation is actually automating and standardizing that scope creation process and doing that with algorithms and with technology and not relying on individuals to do that work. What that does is it takes significant cost out of the project because software is obviously a lot more efficient than humans at automation and repetitive tasks, and then that standardized approach downstream enables a whole host of efficiencies also. So, automation is very much core to our focus at Render.
Brad Hine:
Fabulous, fabulous. So, if I could, I know our audience is always interested in outside of the business world, what led you down this path into what you’re doing? And Omar, I’d like to ask you. So clearly, you’ve had a career in this, what got you fired up to get into the industry and what was the path leading up to Render for you?
Omar Ramadan:
Well, I spent most of my career on the OEM side, so supporting broadband service providers, focused on the deployment of OLTs and ONTs and really the installation of the equipment. And in terms of the construction, that’s always been the long pole in the tent, it’s 70 to 80% of the overall build, yet it takes the longest amount of time. And so just seeing the amount of innovation that Render’s put into the platform on the construction side, really appealed to me.
Brad Hine:
So, in your schooling before you started in the industry, did you study engineering, you were in that side of the business, what was your schooling supporting?
Omar Ramadan:
Well, I spent my time at Texas A&M, with an engineering degree in electrical engineering, and so I did have exposure to communications. But from there I kind of pivoted to customer service and have spent most of my career on the front end of the business, focused on really the customer side. And at Calix, I spent 17 plus years running the service organization for that team and just evolving that team over time.
Brad Hine:
Wow. So, Calix has grown considerably in my time in the industry, so kudos to you for being a part of that team and growing with them. They’re still very present. I think they were one of the most busy booths yesterday. I don’t think I could get in there. I had to have sharp elbows to get into that booth, including the Render booth too.
Omar Ramadan:
Yeah, they’ve certainly grown over the years, and it was great to be a part of that evolution in scaling over that time.
Brad Hine:
So, with your vision right now where Render is today, where do you see maybe the next phase going with the monies that are in the market right now? Clearly, there’s a lot of public and private money that’s coming into the market. There is some macroeconomics that we have to deal with in terms of inflation, in terms of costs, and in terms of staffing. How do you see the next few years rolling out for Render in terms of that?
Omar Ramadan:
I think there’s an incredible opportunity for Render. I think with the ROI benefits, in terms of the acceleration of time to revenue, the reduction in time to construction, and the cost savings in terms of reduction of material, churn, and loss. I think the ROI is excellent and I think most service providers are going to be looking for an opportunity to reduce costs and accelerate their time to market. And so, we’ve seen a tremendous amount of benefits using our platform and we’ve got a number of customer references and case studies that we can point to that are really doing it right.
Brad Hine:
That’s a great point. I do want to speak about something that I read earlier this week with you guys. But for Sam, can you give me a little idea about how you got into the broadband business?
Sam Pratt:
Certainly. So undergraduate business information technology, just like a lot of us. And then I went in, and we didn’t even call them startups back then, but I got involved in small businesses and eCommerce businesses and had some fun, had some wins, had some losses. I actually then had a path that took me through financial services before I eventually got into telecom. And I’ve been in telecom for over 10 years now, with a couple of businesses, relatively early-stage platform businesses. My background on the back of my undergraduate and throughout my career, has really been project and program management in the digital domain. And then I transitioned to leading commercial teams ahead of joining Render in 2018. And we’ve gone on a real journey over the last four years. My career so far has taken me here to the US, but I’ve also spent time in Singapore and throughout Australia as well. And absolutely delighted to be growing this team here in the States.
Brad Hine:
Excellent. Well, I did want to focus on some of the challenges you guys see in the industry overall, but I also want to focus on some wins. I’d like to highlight something I read earlier this week, you teamed up with Irby Utilities in the state of Tennessee, to help a customer over some issues. And it sounds like you got the product to market very quickly, and you got them up and running in record time. Can you kind of talk about that win that you had?
Sam Pratt:
Absolutely. So firstly, Irby has been a fabulous partner of ours and actually was one of our first customers and partners in the US and it’s sensational to see them going from strength to strength and really making good on very longstanding relationships that they have in the rural electric cooperative space in Tennessee and Mississippi and having such a fantastic impact on communities as well. So, the case study that you’re referring to was the Bolivar Energy Authority-
Brad Hine:
BEA.
Sam Pratt:
That’s right. Bolivar Energy Authority and Irby really came together in Western Tennessee in order to turn around a time to revenue outcome of 10 weeks, where they were able to onboard resources, solve for supply chain, and then we’ve invested pretty significantly in automation in order to stand up our solution and support construction also, where over a 10-week period they’re able to connect a seemingly unimaginable amount of homes and businesses that previously had no connection in Western Tennessee. So an outcome that we’re very proud of and primarily facilitated by Irby Utilities.
Brad Hine:
Excellent. Very inspiring. I mean, I love hearing the underserved communities that are stood up quickly, getting people connected, and then all the technologies that we know kind of go on top of that. You guys are doing a fabulous job. How about some of the challenges that you see in the industry in the next few years, obviously you’re solving issues, speed to market, connecting people quickly, and giving them lots of open data, but what are some of the challenges you see in the next few years as an industry, that you’re going to need to get on top of?
Sam Pratt:
I think certainly over the last 12 months, if we haven’t been at peak fiber deployment as an industry collectively, then I’d be very surprised. And so, moving on from supply chain, just being able to maintain pace and grow with the advent of funding, with the BEAD funding that’s coming down over the next 12 to 18 months and the fact that we’re already bursting at the seams effectively from a supplier standpoint and from a capacity standpoint, I think that is going to be a challenge. There’s great work being done across the industry to build capacity as quickly as possible; I think that’s the main one to solve, and we can certainly play a role. However, there’s no silver bullet here, we’re going to have to be very collaborative, and to bring new labor into an industry, does take time.
Brad Hine:
Understood. Well, as we come to the close of this session, this episode of The Broadband Bunch, I always like to ask what we call our Back to the Future question, and I can explain it very simply like this. We’re curious, in the career path or the life of someone in the broadband industry, if you were able to get in your DeLorean time machine and go back and whisper a bit of advice in your ear earlier in your career or perhaps at the beginning of Render, what would you tell yourself? What kind of advice would you give yourself?
Sam Pratt:
It’s quite the question. So to start earlier, I think. And the reception that we’ve had in the US has been absolutely humbling, and we are now effectively a US company. The vast majority of our customers and our revenues are here and we’re able to invest in and support the team with fantastic talent like Omar and others. So, I think the only advice would be to start earlier. That said, I’m not sure that the industry was really ready for digital end-to-end approaches, frankly, until now, until post-pandemic. The pandemic has accelerated our awareness of what’s possible when we’re not working collaboratively in the same location. And so, I think that mindset is responsible for what we’re seeing as really the early majority asking themselves what value they are leaving on the table if they’re not using an approach like ours. So, it would really be to start earlier.
Brad Hine:
I love it. I love it. Well, as we come to the close of this episode, if somebody from our audience loves what they hear and want to get in touch with Render or either of you, how do they do that?
Sam Pratt:
So, if you want to get in touch with us, look, please do reach out. We’re at 15 industry events this year, we’re really showing up for the industry in 2023. We’re excited that everyone’s back on their feet and they’re collaborating. Please do get in touch. Our website has all the requisite details, rendernetworks.com. But we’re very much part of the industry and please reach out to us directly and I’d encourage you to share our details, along with the podcast. Thank you so much, much for your time, and I think The Broadband Bunch is a great initiative and I really admire what you guys are doing and always enjoy the chat, Brad.
Brad Hine:
Well, we appreciate your support and from everyone at The Broadband Bunch and to our audience, thank you so much for joining today. And I won’t say goodbye, but for a little while, so long.
