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
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Broadband Bunch. This is Pete Pizzutillo. We are at Calix ConneXions 2022 in Las Vegas, and I am joined by two folks from Beacon Broadband, Shelly Yockey and Scott Paul. Thanks for joining the show.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Before we get into what you’re seeing at the show and some of the things you’ve been dealing with, maybe just help us understand a little bit about how Beacon Broadband was initiated, and a little bit of background on Coos-Curry Electric Co-op.
Shelly Yockey:
Absolutely. Coos-Curry Electric Co-op serves approximately 18,000 meters in Coos and Curry counties on the south coast of Oregon.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Okay.
Shelly Yockey:
Beautiful territory, rugged terrain. About 20% of our members are underserved, and we want to be able to provide them with a service where no one else will go. So that’s kind of been our tagline. We’re bringing the high-speed fiber experience where no one else will go. We were formed in late 2020 and started our initial customers in May of 2021.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Wow. That’s great. Scott, do you want to add anything to that?
Scott Paul:
I’ll tweak it a little bit. Okay. We started in May of 2022, which is when we started our first service. There you go.
Shelly Yockey:
Better.
Scott Paul:
We did have a pilot test that we started towards the end of 2021, with a small little subsection of Brookings, Oregon, through an HOA we wanted to build and construct. We were new to the whole game, so we started there and we launched our internet services and we pilot tested that for a good four or five months before we launched voice services. It was at that time we integrated our billing services with a good partner of ours, GLDS. And then, we are currently in the process of integrating some of our business services with our voice provider, Alianza, and now we’re into the video product. We are actually just scratching the surface of video with Inch House, so that’s kind of been our path and our journey. Currently, we have roughly 1400 addresses that we pass that we can service, but that’ll be, like Shelly had stated, up into the 20,000 range by the end of the next five-year build.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Wow. Yeah. Shelly, I want to get back to you. What was the motivation for the Co-op to recognize that the membership was underserved? Any background on that? Was it COVID, or was it kind of something that you had been thinking about for a while?
Shelly Yockey:
It was definitely something we’d been thinking about for a while. I think it actually started again when our general manager, Paul Recanzone, approached the Co-op, and he lives in the small town of Coquille, with poor internet services there. But he brought to us his history and background of building out a fiber project.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Yeah, it’s amazing that… I mean, I’m sure the Co-op… How long has the Co-op been around?
Shelly Yockey:
Since 1936, I believe.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Yeah. It’s amazing that it’s taken this long to make that realization that there’s enough pain, there’s enough need to say, you know what? We got to do this ourselves. So are you both Oregon natives?
Shelly Yockey:
No, I’ve been in Oregon for about seven years. I came from another co-op-
Pete Pizzutillo:
Oh, okay.
Shelly Yockey:
… in Northern California.
Scott Paul:
I left Brookings to go do some other things for a while and just moved back because of this opportunity last year. So I wouldn’t call myself an Oregon native, but I’m definitely settling down, just bought a house, so I’m not planning on leaving anytime soon.
Pete Pizzutillo:
So I mean, that’s always an interesting appeal. You guys are dealing with other private companies as competitors, perhaps, that have different motivations than folks that, in my experience, the DNA’s a little bit different than folks that serve a co-op. What is it that you like about being a part of the cooperative?
Shelly Yockey:
I think it’s because we’re member-focused. We care about them. We want to take what they’re interested in and be able to serve them however we can. And they’re our priority. We also work, live, and play with them, and they’re just part of us.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Right.
Scott Paul:
All right. I think I’ll tie it back to a Calix conversation I heard today, where our competitors are a commodity and we’re bringing in experience. It’s not just about how much money I can make off a customer based on their address. It’s what I can provide to that customer that delivers that experience. When I interviewed for this position a year and a half ago, somebody said, “What’s your number one goal?” And I said, “I want to make somebody at the end of one of these rivers that have zero services, I want them to make him TikTok famous. There’s a nine-year-old kid up this river that knows how to fish better than any other human being in the world. And he’s nine years old and can’t share that video, a three-minute video session on how he does it better than anybody else.” So TikTok, or if it’s a Zoom meeting, or telehealth, or whatever the scenario’s going to be, that’s what we want to bring to somebody that’s never had a fiber internet connection before in their lives.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Yeah.
Scott Paul:
That’s the difference.
Pete Pizzutillo:
I love that. So you guys have been to the Calix event before?
Scott Paul:
This is our first year.
Shelly Yockey:
First time.
Pete Pizzutillo:
And what are some of the takeaways that you’ve had so far, Shelly?
Shelly Yockey:
I think I just keep hearing the word experience and how can I focus on the customer’s experience?
Scott Paul:
How many people are in the same boat we are?
Pete Pizzutillo:
That’s true.
Scott Paul:
That’s a big number. Whether it’s a speaker or it’s somebody else, they’re all doing the same thing that… They were where we were.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Right.
Scott Paul:
So my biggest takeaway is they’ve gotten to the point where somebody has said, “Hey, you’re good enough to come to speak to these people. Share your experience where you were. This is your second Calix experience. Share with them what you’ve learned in the last year.” And that’s what my biggest takeaway is, is networking with those individuals and understanding their struggle so that I can go back in four days and start making an impact in my business so that I’m where they are a year from now.
Pete Pizzutillo:
So in that vein, what are some of the biggest lessons learned that you guys have had since May of 2021?
Shelly Yockey:
I’d say to make sure that you have an OSS/BSS that is integrated so that we don’t have a swivel chair effect-
Pete Pizzutillo:
Okay.
Shelly Yockey:
… and GLDS has been a game changer for us.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Great.
Shelly Yockey:
Yeah, I would agree with Shelly. It’s all about the API integrations to make your life easier. If you’ve got four different partners that help make your life easier if you can find somebody that can tie all those together, whether that be through Calix or billing software… Calix and GLDS have been great, but other partnerships like VertiGIS and Alianza have been great as well. So having all those pieces stitched together in one big puzzle, it’s going to take a while to get those puzzle pieces together, but then just stand back and admire what you’ve built. That’s pretty impressive.
Pete Pizzutillo:
And what about the customer service impact? Both of you’ve had a role or a history in that. I mean, do you see a difference in how the membership interactions and engagements were when you’re solely a utility as today? Or is it the same service?
Shelly Yockey:
It’s the same service. I mean, we are our own organization, but we do bring over all the customer service values and the same smile and greetings and everything like that the cooperative shared with the members. We still treat them as… Even though we call them customers, they are a member of the cooperative and we are part of the cooperative. I think it’s just important that we treat everyone like family.
Scott Paul:
There’s no other option for electricity in Coos and Curry County right now. You’re with Coos-Curry Electric, or you have a solar panel, or you’re off the grid. Those are your options. And not a lot of people have the money to put up front for a solar panel, and the coast is always foggy. So solar panels are not the best fit. People can select whomever they want, whether they want to go with a commodity or an experience. And so the one thing I would twitch from Shelley’s message is, although we treat all of our customers like members, I would say we have to do it just a little bit deeper because they could leave us and choose somebody else if we don’t do it right the first time.
You can have a bad experience at Coos-Curry and your member service reps are going to take care of that customer. That’s in their blood, but they don’t have anywhere else to go. That is the one big difference that I think we see on our side, is that our customers can walk at any time, and if we’re not delivering that experience, we turn into a commodity that’s just overpriced.
Pete Pizzutillo:
So along those lines, you’ve seen a lot of themes around managed services that are being offered through Calix and their partnership, the ecosystems, whether it’s the Arlo security or the Bark internet sensing, whatever category you call that. Are you guys considering those types of value-added services?
Shelly Yockey:
Absolutely.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Okay.
Shelly Yockey:
We’re hoping to launch Arlo by the end of the year.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Okay.
Shelly Yockey:
Christmas time is our goal, and we’re going to explore Bark and Servify.
Scott Paul:
Yeah. No, I really like Bark after seeing some of the visions.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Yeah.
Scott Paul:
I think when it was initially pitched to us, it was like, we don’t have enough kids in our town. We’re good. My kid’s graduated, he’s out of the house, he’s gone. I don’t have a child that needs to worry about bullying.
Pete Pizzutillo:
No problem.
Scott Paul:
He’s been bullied. So-
Pete Pizzutillo:
That’s right.
Scott Paul:
Coming here and listening to other people’s stories, you hear a different story from a vendor perspective that just opened my eyes, I got to have that.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Okay.
Scott Paul:
I want it. The other cool thing is they just announced Arlo Secure. We already bought our cameras. We’re already trying to integrate Arlo cameras into the system and now we’re walking away going, do we need security systems, too? So the conference has been cool, and it’s not just the cameras that we were trying to install.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Right.
Scott Paul:
Now we got a new product suite. Do we really want to integrate that as well?
Pete Pizzutillo:
And that’s the question I have for I think most operators. What’s a support and engagement model look like as you add these different services? Do you think you guys can scale to handle calls around security and repair and all that other stuff?
Scott Paul:
I do. I honestly believe that it’s possible. We listened to a session, I just came out from Calix. We’ve already partnered with NRTC for our tier-two technical support and our knock management, but they have a chat feature that could take some of that traffic off of us. With Support Cloud and the customer’s Command IQ app or the Your Beacon app on their phone, it gives them the ability to manage their network a little bit more. So the Internet’s kind of taken care of.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Sure.
Scott Paul:
So now it comes back around to how can I think outside the box. We use our own internal installers and we use contract installers that have to meet a very specific skill set for us to bring them on. We’ll have to find new ones that can do home security and all the pieces there, yes. But Arlo also does a great job in its partnership with Calix to keep me from having to manage half of that stuff.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Right.
Scott Paul:
They do it themselves.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Yeah. No, that’s good advice. So looking ahead, what’s the next 12 months look like for you guys?
Scott Paul:
Busy.
Shelly Yockey:
We’re going to just keep building fiber. I think right now we have about 2000 homes passed, so our goal is just to continue with the project. It’s projected to be about a three to five-year build.
Scott Paul:
Yeah. Paul says, “Build a network, integrate services, and earn and support subscribers.” So our next year is those three primary things. There are a trillion other things in that busy comment I made, but those are the three primary things we have to do in the next 12 months.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Good. Are you guys going to come back and be on stage next year?
Scott Paul:
I would love to be on stage.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Okay.
Scott Paul:
I think I’ll puke before I get on stage, but I would love to be up there. But to do that, we got to continue the partnerships with some of these network opportunities we’ve made while we’ve been here.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Yeah. No, it’s been great. Well, thank you for stopping by, and thank you for all your insight best of luck. It sounds like you guys are on a great mission and have a lot of work to do. So thanks for being on the show.
Shelly Yockey:
Thanks for having us.
Scott Paul:
Thank you very much.
Pete Pizzutillo:
Thanks.
