- Brightspeed isn’t applying to the FCC to retire large swathes of copper
- Instead it retires copper automatically for customers who are having service problems
- It can replace copper with either fiber or a unique wireless technology
Brightspeed is on a big mission to deploy more fiber, currently passing about 90,000 new premises per month with fiber. But it is also retiring copper on a home-by-home basis for customers who are experiencing service problems. Sometimes it moves these customers to fiber, but other times it moves them to a unique wireless service.
Tom Maguire, CEO of Brightspeed, told Fierce Network that there are two approaches to copper retirement: proactive and reactive.
Many telcos are working to ditch their creaky old copper assets, including AT&T, Verizon, Ziply and Lumen in the U.S., Telus in Canada, Telefonica in Spain and BT in the U.K.
The proactive approach Maguire mentioned would be what AT&T is attempting to do in California and some other states, where it petitions the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and state agencies to retire copper in large areas. In the case of California, AT&T has been denied its petition to step back from being the carrier of last resort (CoLR), and it has been told it must maintain its copper infrastructure for the time being.
But Brightspeed isn’t taking that approach to copper retirement. Instead, it is overbuilding its copper plant as fast as it can. And in situations where people are having trouble with their copper services, it’s taking the reactive approach. When a customer has multiple service calls related to their service, Brightspeed automatically puts the customer on a better technology. That can be fiber, but not always. Sometimes it’s a wireless-based service.
If fiber is already available in a customer’s neighborhood, then it’s a no-brainer to convert a customer who is having problems with their copper service.
Maguire said in those cases, “It takes a couple of hours to get to your house. We could in some cases get you on fiber faster than we could fix your copper.”
But if fiber is not yet available in a customer’s neighborhood, then Brightspeed upgrades them to a wireless service. Asked if this was like fixed wireless access (FWA), Maguire said it’s not exactly like FWA but “it’s the same theory.”
The company is working with the big wireless providers to wholesale their 4G and 5G cellular networks. It then deploys a special device in the customer’s home. It’s a simple device with an antenna, and customers can plug in their land-line phones. “It’s our device; we developed,” said Maguire.
The device can provide either dial-tone for phone service or dial-tone and broadband. “Right now, we’ve deployed a bunch of dial-tone devices, and we’re trialing dial-tone with broadband devices,” he said.
Lingering legacy
Brightspeed still has a lot of customers on copper. The two-year-old company acquired Lumen Technologies’ copper assets in 20 markets, and it’s working fast to overbuild its network with fiber. The company currently passes 6.5 million homes and businesses, and by the end of this year it will have 1.8 million of those passings overbuilt with fiber. But upgrades take time.
So, when issues arise in the meantime, Brightspeed doesn’t even ask customers if they want to upgrade to a new technology. It simply upgrades them for no additional charge.
Maguire said this approach is good for the customer because it solves their problem. And it’s also good for Brightspeed. “Today, a small number of customers cause a large number of truck rolls. Every dollar I spend on copper is a dollar I can’t spend on fiber,” he said.
“We will at some point look at the copper infrastructure, and if it makes sense to go and pursue official retirement.” said Maguire. “Until then we deal on an individual basis. I’m concerned about customers on copper that have a lousy service experience.”
There’s no up-charge
Maguire said that based on his past experience as a Verizon executive, he’s noticed that a lot of customers in rural areas who still have copper service are concerned when they hear that their provider is upgrading them to fiber. The first thing that comes to their mind is: Is this going to cost me more?
But Brightspeed doesn’t approach customers in this way at all. “A customer calls us, we go out and figure out what’s the best technology, and we move them over,” he said. “Their bill is no different.”
The customer receives a speed tier that’s comparable to the service they’ve been paying for. And of course, they can upgrade to higher tiers if they want to.
Maguire concluded, “I think this is so important because it’s an opportunity for the industry to help itself. We’re spending a lot of money on copper infrastructure that isn’t really being used all that much. We have tools at our disposal that I think customers will embrace.”
