michael sterl

Life at the intersection of telecoms utilities. As CenterPoint Energy, Oncor Electric Delivery and others were struggling to restore power to 3M ratepayers after a hurricane Beryl-ed through Texas I was talking with an #electrification colleague. He was lamenting the nature of utilities, generally around #evcharging connections, planning and policies, and now service interruptions. Alas, Texas and ERCOT in the news again! This conversation felt familiar. My first work in the Lone Star State was at the invitation of Voicestream Wireless. They were launching PCS service in DFW, Austin and the Red River Valley and called in legacy contractors from around the country. We were tapped for our specialty: telecom attachments on utility transmission rights of way. Then it struck me, that was 25 years ago. So much has changed since then. Turf contracts were unheard of. Omnipoint Corporation would become T-Mobile. Hutchinson and Voicestream would be replaced by Deutsche Telekom. Mo Katibeh was still in college. The parrot would disappear. Our primary transmission counterparty TXU Energy would change, change and change again, leaving transmission assets with Sempra Oncor Electric Delivery. Focus would shift from market launches and coverage to density and bandwidth. Circuits would be replaced by packet switched networks bringing FTTx, Convergence, Consolidation, Streaming, DAS & Small Cells, #IoT, #telematics and flirtations with autonomy. Utility deregulation would evolve into #ancillaries, #DERs and #resilience. But much hasn't. The tension between emerging technology companies and regulated utilities really hasn't changed that much. The former focus on speed to market; the latter on safety & reliability. So whether its a hurricane or an ice storm, the local service companies don't want to go before the PUC and explain that a third party contributed to outages and restoration. Play it again, Sam. https://lnkd.in/eDXSD-qc

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Did you know T-Mobile for Business has the only nationwide #5G standalone #network in the U.S.? 5G Standalone is a "100% 5G network," built entirely on the latest 5G technology—without depending on older 4G systems like non-standalone 5G does. Standalone 5G is faster and more efficient than our 4G systems. And you need 5G standalone for innovations like: ✅ Network slicing ✅ Ultra-low latency ✅ Private 5G networks Discover how 5G standalone can take your business further: https://t-mo.co/4bKYfiT

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Imagine this process for upgrading your UCaaS system: You do research = 5 hours You compare offers = 4 hours You contact references = 3 hours You spend time on sales rep calls, external demos, negotiating, internal reviews, internal demos… = 25 hours You don’t have 37 hours to do all of this. We’ll give them back to you.

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View as Webpage   CPUC BEAD Challenge Process Timeline   California’s 120-day Challenge Process will begin on July 8, 2024, starting with the 30-day Challenge Phase. The CPUC has partnered with Ready.net to provide a Challenge Portal where permissible challengers can register and submit challenges. On June 17, the CPUC will provide the map of eligible locations, access to the BEAD Consumer Challenge website, and the data sets of unserved locations, underserved locations, and CAIs. These will be available on the Challenge Portal.  Pre-registration for the Challenge Portal is currently open to permissible challengers (units of local and Tribal governments, nonprofits, and broadband service providers). Registration will remain open through the Rebuttal Phase to allow challenged Service Providers to register and provide counterevidence to rebut challenged locations. For technical assistance with the Portal, please contact [email protected].  The CPUC will hold a series of office hours for live questions on the BEAD Challenge Process. Dates and times will be posted on the BEAD Events page for registration once available. General BEAD Program Information  For more information on the Challenge Process, the CPUC launched a Challenge Process webpage where potential challengers can find information about the Challenge Process as it becomes available and register for informational Events. Additionally, we will be updating the BEAD Frequently Asked Questions page in the coming days and weeks to capture the questions you’ve asked during our webinars or sent to the [email protected] email.  CPUC Communications Division BEAD Program Team  

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It’s not a law of the universe that every call has camera issues. Sure, in the digital world, people are generally forgiving. But that patience wears thin when the same issues keep popping up. If your team consistently struggles with video and audio problems during customer meetings… It might be time to rethink your UCaaS system. Is it the software? Is there a training gap? Either way, those one-time issues need to stay one-time. Make sure your tools are as reliable as the services you provide.

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One area that I think smaller/community broadband providers could get a lot of bang for their buck (both time and $$$) is… Sharpening their sales skills as it relates to business customers. The business sale is different than residential. There is more competition. They value different things. But it also has more upside. It’s not as simple as, “Hey we have fiber, buy my service.” You’ve got to provide and show value outside of just fast internet, as they have needs around network and managed services. AND many large carriers will compete for those business $$$ while ignoring the residential area. Learn a basic sales process and how to ask good questions and you’ll be surprised the results it can drive. #broadband #smallbusiness #sethtalks

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Waiting on-hold killing you? Here is the average hold-times for B1 Communications, Business VoIP Provider telephone lines for May. We answered sales calls within 17 seconds. Literally running for the phone. This isn't impressive, even companies that keep customers on-hold for 45 minutes answer sales calls quickly. Now, the real stat; our customer support line. We had an average of 32 seconds of on-hold time... This might be great compared to other telecom providers, but we consider this a failure. Our goal is 30 seconds or less, meaning our team has some improving to do. Stay tuned for our June report. Coming in last, our billing line had an average of 36 seconds of on-hold time for the month of May. Next time you're choosing a telephone #provider, ask for their average hold-times. How much time are you wasting on-hold? Do they estimate hours, minutes, or seconds?

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