Locating the Competition:

The Fine Art of Finding Telco and Cable Competitors

 © 2002 Tim Sanders

    Why it Matters

    Among the many tasks that a fixed wireless company needs to complete is defining its competitors. The why of this is pretty straightforward; knowing how competitors charge, how they market and whom they try to serve, helps any company define its own business model. Perhaps, more importantly, for fixed wireless providers, knowing exactly ‘where’ a competitor is deployed is a critical piece of information in planning a winning network and deployment strategy.

    A successful fixed wireless company strives to position its service to cover the unserved customers in its markets. It makes basic sense that contracting a customer who has no other broadband alternative is easier than fighting for one who has several.

    Among the tools that companies can use to plan effective deployments, plotting telecom central offices (CO’s) and cable TV plant on a map, is one of the most straightforward. However, the information on CO and cable plant, for reasons both deliberate and intrinsic to the industry, is often not very accurate. Determining the actual location of CO’s and cable runs remains somewhat more of an art than a science.

    Where are Those Central Offices

    The business case of deploying service to potential clients who have no options for broadband access is extremely appealing. Opportunities abound for providers to rapidly grow subscribership, to charge high-margin prices and to quickly recover their capital investment in the underserved areas of a market. So the questions remain: How do you know there is no service? Also, how do you plan for potential DSL competitors?

    On the surface, it seems that locating Telephone Company CO’s and the DSL providers that locate in them would be simple. Surely there is a central web site or database that offers that information for the entire country. Isn’t there? My research into this subject indicates, that if there is such a site, the phone companies aren’t talking. Some of this reticence is understandable. In the wake of the events of September 11^th security is a valid concern.

    So what’s an enterprising wireless ISP to do? Being a bit lucky helps.

    “We were able to find some very good information on the corporate site for our local long-distance provider,” said Jeff Clark, President of RNI.net in Tempe, Arizona. “Unfortunately that company has since pulled that information from the site. Probably because it certainly contained more details than they wished the public to see. Still it was great while it lasted.”

    Jeff further relates that in his company’s experience CO information is market and carrier specific. Once the information was collected, RNI used it to plot addresses on the map using concentric rings from the CO’s, at half-mile, at 1-mile and at 2-mile intervals. This provided RNI.net a very good idea of where DSL or potential DSL competition would deploy.

    For some companies, locating the competition is central to their marketing efforts.

    “We employ a contractor, who for a fixed fee each month, researches this along with other market information,” said Mike Miller, President of TheWebUnwired; an Iowa based wireless Internet Service Provider (ISP). “The contractor calls the Telco with a number of addresses to confirm service coverage and we gradually build a map of where DSL is and isn’t.”

    Miller explains that the company picks addresses from a local MLS (Multiple Listing Service.) The contractor then makes calls to the local phone company with an inquiry about a possible move. This can be time consuming, but is possibly the most accurate of all the methods described here.

    Other experts agree that finding Central Office information is difficult but defining how far from the CO customers can receive service is even harder. One major problem is that there is no set distance that DSL will work because of line quality.

    “The copper plant in many areas is of spotty quality,” said Adam Haas, Executive Director of the Energy and Communications Division of W&H Pacific, an Oregon-based consultantancy. “Depending on the number of line taps, which can add tons of resistance, and other factors, a potential DSL customer may not be able to get signal even a short distance from the CO. Also, lots of newer subdivisions have fiber nodes feeding them which completely eliminates the possibility of DSL coverage.”

    Certainly, this is very good news for fixed wireless providers, but the question remains: Where can a fixed wireless ISP find information on CO’s?

    Information is Out There

    There are web sites that do provide some comprehensive information. One such site is The Telco Exchange, where registered subscribers can obtain information on CO locations. However, this site is geared to companies or groups that purchase connections and there is an obligation to do business through the site in order to see CO information. This site does contain some very useful information about the Telco world.

    For web-based information, one useful choice can be to simply use the various DSL sites, which may provide the information needed. Unfortunately these are not always current. There can be errors. For example, one site lists Covad as an active service provider for Asheville, NC. However that provider left this market 18-months ago. Some examples of DSL access sites are listed below:

    There are some other options, but some of these can be costly. There are a number of companies that specialize in physical survey and comparisons with aerial photography to develop really accurate GEO data. Generally companies that do this type of work are heavily involved in RF installation, site survey and deployment services. A good example of such a company is CSI, which maintains a significant national footprint.

    Another option is to work with a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) company. These firms can be really helpful on a number of fronts because of mapping products these companies use. Most GIS shops for example, can help you purchase products that contain CO information or can do the analysis for you. However, once again for security reasons, the exact CO information can be off.

    “For security reasons GIS product providers do not pinpoint the address associated with the CO exactly,” said John Boughner, Engagement Manager, with Peak Effects, a Denver-based operational marketing firm. “Our map providers tell us that the actual CO location can vary from 2,000 to 5,000 feet from the address listed. It is close however.” 

    The value of mapping information is hard to overstate. A graphical representation of the potential market a wireless provider is entering is extremely useful for many reasons beyond CO location purposes.

    Other mapping experts agree:

    “Information is slightly altered for deliberate security reasons,” agreed Wolfgang Walcher, Manager of Business Development for Vexcel Corporation, a leading geo database provider. “There is also no central repository of DSL and CLEC co-location information, which is probably good, because it changes often.”

    Telco services are regulated at the state level. Because of this, it may be possible to get some information on CO locations from state Utility Commissions. The availability of information will almost certainly vary by state and may take longer than other sources.

    However, one or more of the tools described here should allow a fixed wireless provider to build a good picture of DSL coverage in its market.

    What about Cable

    What about cable TV? What tools are available to find CATV plant?

     The short and long answer to the quality of CATV plant information is that it is mixed. Cable TV systems are not regulated at the state level, but at the local city and county level which points toward where to look first.

    “One good source of cable information is the local cable franchise office,” said Haas. “ Try asking them where the head end is located and the area extent where upgrades to the physical plant are completed.”

    Haas further adds that the local cable company generally will help.

    Best Research Efforts May Be Fruitless

    “Cable plant documentation can be spotty even from the cable providers themselves,” said Walcher. “Even if the Cable Company has solid information on areas already rebuilt for high-speed access, that information may not be available electronically even to them.”

    However, the same phone survey techniques that companies can use to ascertain Telco information should work just as well for cable TV. Fortuitously, CATV availability is a somewhat less murky area than Telco DSL service, which may or may not be available for reasons that aren’t obvious. Cable service providers generally upgrade a whole city prior to rolling out a broadband service. Thus, a simple question on cable availability answers the question. If the cable company offers service before a complete rebuild is finished, then it is usually very motivated to convey its new service segments to the public. Either way, locating cable access is much more straightforward than DSL.

    Conclusion

    In can be time consuming and even difficult to locate the extent of competing broadband products. However, the effort is well worth it. Knowing the potential of a competitor’s ability to assault your company’s market segment is invaluable. More importantly, finding customers who aren’t served by any other provider offers the unique opportunity to be that customer’s first and best broadband access provider. The chance to set the bar of quality service before any competitors arrive only happens once in each market. Successful companies take advantage of opportunities to reach unserved customers, for modest cost, whenever that option presents itself.

About the Author: Tim Sanders is founder of The Final Mile, a fixed wireless consulting firm and gained his experience with a multi-state fixed wireless ISP. Tim’s company focuses on assisting in successful deployments even in rural markets and he frequently writes on topics related to succeeding in small markets. He can be contacted at tim@thefinalmile.net or at 828-253-0702.

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