DERoestorf
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2014
- Messages
- 923
- Reaction score
- 21
I have seen a lot of posts lately, of people asking, when will we get fibre in area X. This is from my experience, but feel free to add anything else. Maybe in time we can put together a whole document on what neighborhoods can do to get fibre installed in your area.
So I decided to make this post, on some of the benefits of Community Associations and being Pro-Active in selecting a fibre provider.
From any fibre provider that is currently busy in South Africa. You have to look at it from their perspective. How many people are interested in an area. How many people will take up fibre once it is implemented. And how long will it take for me to make the money back I invest in the fibre, given upgrades to the networks over the coming years.
Naturally, and as can be seen, most fibre providers are focusing on your more affluent areas. The reason for this is quite simple. Installing fibre is expensive. You not only need people to either trench the entire area, or use aerial fibre. But on top of that, you need to pay for the fibre itself, as well as the really expensive part, which is the equipment that is used.
Before even laying the first line of fibre, site surveys needs to be done, way leaves need to be obtained, Marketing, etc.
So what can you do to get fibre in your area faster.
Well, this is where being pro-active helps. And this is where a community association is even better. A community association has a list of all home owners in the area (that wants to be part of it). This means you have essentially a large list of people who will immediately notice an email coming in. This makes it easier for the fibre provider, as instead of spending a couple of hundred thousand to a couple of million on marketing, you have got a group that will listen. You also know that with the backing of the community association, you have a stronger case when you approach the community.
A community association also makes it a lot easier, as the fibre provider knows who to deal with. From the community, they know where to raise issues, complaints etc, but also the fibre provider has a platform to voice new from.
But having a community association is not all you can do to be pro-active.
Firstly, get a survey going in your area. The survey should have a couple of basic question.
From this simple survey, you can get an understanding within your area, not only what the people are currently spending on internet, but also what they are willing to spend. How many people are interested, and even how diverse is the community when it comes to ISP's.
From this, you can put together a RFP that you can send to different fibre providers. Attach the results from the survey, and get them to tell you what they are offering.
The reason for doing this is that it will show what the demand for fibre is in your area. Important factors to note when sending out the data is if the sample is statistically valid. So give the number of respondents, the number of people it was sent to, as well as the number of households in the area.
The whole idea behind the survey is to show that it is economically viable for them to come and install in your area.
Once you receive the proposals back, it is time to do a careful analysis on what everything means. It is important to choose the right provider. Here, somebody with a good business background can make a huge difference, but also get somebody with good technical expertise involved. The saying "if something looks to good to be true, it normally is" does apply here as well. Make sure of the fact, double and triple check them. If you are unsure about anything, raise it. Be open and have proper discussions about what is the positive and negatives of each provider.
There are a million things to look at. But these are some important factors (Please, raise more in the comments if you have more)
After getting this done. It is time to inform the provider of your choice. Some communities might be a bit harder, and will require that you run a survey, where the people can vote on their fibre provider. But either way, what you want to do is set up a quick survey, with the following:
Once you have completed this, you go back to the fibre provider of your choice (note, some fibre providers might even jump in to promote the survey as well, which will be an added bonus). Provide them with the details mentioned, as this will be the contacts that they know will be interested, and makes it again easier for the fibre provider.
And drive the initiative forward. Remember, some simple business logic can help.
Hope this helps potential suburbs of the future to also get fibre installed.
So I decided to make this post, on some of the benefits of Community Associations and being Pro-Active in selecting a fibre provider.
From any fibre provider that is currently busy in South Africa. You have to look at it from their perspective. How many people are interested in an area. How many people will take up fibre once it is implemented. And how long will it take for me to make the money back I invest in the fibre, given upgrades to the networks over the coming years.
Naturally, and as can be seen, most fibre providers are focusing on your more affluent areas. The reason for this is quite simple. Installing fibre is expensive. You not only need people to either trench the entire area, or use aerial fibre. But on top of that, you need to pay for the fibre itself, as well as the really expensive part, which is the equipment that is used.
Before even laying the first line of fibre, site surveys needs to be done, way leaves need to be obtained, Marketing, etc.
So what can you do to get fibre in your area faster.
Well, this is where being pro-active helps. And this is where a community association is even better. A community association has a list of all home owners in the area (that wants to be part of it). This means you have essentially a large list of people who will immediately notice an email coming in. This makes it easier for the fibre provider, as instead of spending a couple of hundred thousand to a couple of million on marketing, you have got a group that will listen. You also know that with the backing of the community association, you have a stronger case when you approach the community.
A community association also makes it a lot easier, as the fibre provider knows who to deal with. From the community, they know where to raise issues, complaints etc, but also the fibre provider has a platform to voice new from.
But having a community association is not all you can do to be pro-active.
Firstly, get a survey going in your area. The survey should have a couple of basic question.
- How do you currently connect to the internet at home?
- Who is your current internet service provider (ISP)?
- Would you prefer an open access or closed network?
- What are you currently paying per month, for home connectivity?
- Would you change over to fibre?
- Up to what monthly amount would you be willing to pay for a dedicated and faster solution?
- Comments
From this simple survey, you can get an understanding within your area, not only what the people are currently spending on internet, but also what they are willing to spend. How many people are interested, and even how diverse is the community when it comes to ISP's.
From this, you can put together a RFP that you can send to different fibre providers. Attach the results from the survey, and get them to tell you what they are offering.
The reason for doing this is that it will show what the demand for fibre is in your area. Important factors to note when sending out the data is if the sample is statistically valid. So give the number of respondents, the number of people it was sent to, as well as the number of households in the area.
The whole idea behind the survey is to show that it is economically viable for them to come and install in your area.
Once you receive the proposals back, it is time to do a careful analysis on what everything means. It is important to choose the right provider. Here, somebody with a good business background can make a huge difference, but also get somebody with good technical expertise involved. The saying "if something looks to good to be true, it normally is" does apply here as well. Make sure of the fact, double and triple check them. If you are unsure about anything, raise it. Be open and have proper discussions about what is the positive and negatives of each provider.
There are a million things to look at. But these are some important factors (Please, raise more in the comments if you have more)
- What is the Show of interest, sign-up, signed contract numbers required
- What is the timelines to install.
- What approach to they take.
- What is the contention ratio.
- How future proof is the solution being offered.
- How active are they on social media.
- What will they bring to the party.
- If they trench, how will they re-instate the pavement afterwards
- What is the price for the in home installation
- What is the expected price from ISP's
- Does the provider charge the ISP directly, or will you be charged a line rental fee?
- Is it an open network or not.
- How quickly can you cancel the fibre if you want or need to.
After getting this done. It is time to inform the provider of your choice. Some communities might be a bit harder, and will require that you run a survey, where the people can vote on their fibre provider. But either way, what you want to do is set up a quick survey, with the following:
- Do you consent that we can share the below information with the approved fibre provider
- Name
- Surname
- House Number
- Street Name
- Cell Nr
- Email Adress
optional would be: - Which provider do you want for fibre.
Once you have completed this, you go back to the fibre provider of your choice (note, some fibre providers might even jump in to promote the survey as well, which will be an added bonus). Provide them with the details mentioned, as this will be the contacts that they know will be interested, and makes it again easier for the fibre provider.
And drive the initiative forward. Remember, some simple business logic can help.
Hope this helps potential suburbs of the future to also get fibre installed.