Broadweave Networks Humming Along in Provo

Business is booming for Broadweave Networks nearly a year after officially taking over the failing iProvo network.

The telecommunications company swooped in to buy the fiber optic network from Provo City after years of sluggish growth and ballooning debt forced the city to sell to a private company.

But Broadweave has turned the network around, growing revenues by about 10 percent a month and adding more than 1,400 new customers since taking over the network, which is a series of fiber-optics running beneath Provo's sidewalks. Broadweave delivers telephone, television and Internet services over the network.

"It's much faster than we had hoped," says Steve Christensen, CEO of Broadweave." We've really focused on sales and a guerilla marketing campaign where we go out there door to door."

Broadweave took over the fiber optic network from iProvo, a city-run operation, on July 1 and assumed full ownership in September. Perhaps the biggest change from the high cost and slow growth of iProvo is that Broadweave can be both the service provider and the network owner, whereas Provo City could not by state law.

City leaders found themselves in a financial quagmire as costs kept mounting and growth stayed slow. Although it was the largest municipally built network in the county, city leaders turned to a sale to Broadweave to avoid going further into the red. 

By bringing both services under one roof, Christensen says Broadweave has been able to streamline the process and coordinate efforts to grow more quickly. The consolidated also means higher revenues per customer and increased cash flow. 

Changing the network to a private model instead of a government-owned entity has also boosted sales, Christensen says, because the company is willing to put up the upfront capital to add new customers. With each new contract, Broadweave has to boot a significant upfront expense to hook that house up to the fiber optic network. 

"We're committed to being competitive," Christensen says. "Competition is alive and well in the private sector. 

Broadweave has also spent a good chunk of money on sales and marketing in an effort to eventually make every customer in Provo a member of Broadweave.

The company's next milestone is to have18,000 customers signed on with Broadweave - or about 50 percent of the network. Since taking over the network, the company has also added 70 commercial companies including county leaders like NuSkin, Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University. 

Broadweave hopes to do for business what it has done for residents - offer more value and speed for less money so businesses can save money in tough economic times. 

"Our message is really simple: we deliver more for less," Christensen says. "It's more speed, less money. No other provider has fiber optics to the home. No other provider can compete with us."  

At about 60 megabits per second, Broadweave is delivering bandwidth speed that its "competitors can't come close to," he says. 

While Broadweave did inherit the market edge with the fiber optic network, the company also inherited some substantial problems with the network, as well. Much of the fiber systems were in "complete disrepair," Christensen says, leading to several network outages early on in the switch form iProvo to Broadweave.

Broadweave quickly fixed the low-hanging and exposed fiber, however, while also improving generator backup to the system.

Now, Christensen says the company is looking to enhance the network further with new voice portals and set-top boxes to improve TV and phone quality. At the same time, Broadweave has beefed up the customer service arm of the company, implementing a customer care center and surveying customers for concerns. 

Broadweave even has a community advisory team made up of former iProvo board members to take feedback and make improvements to the network. 

"Customers in Provo are the best customer a network owner could have because they've been through the ringer with a number of service providers and have been through a lot of very challenging cycles in Provo's growth," Christensen says. "We had to immediately send the customers a message that we'd be here for the long term and we're committed to the service quality." 

Visit www.broadweave.com for more information or pricing.