Do You Want to Survive?

Yeah, I thought that title would get your attention; who doesn’t want to survive? And yet we all do things that actively work against it. Ever driven a bit too fast for conditions? Ever gotten a bit too close to high voltage without making sure it was turned off? Ever said something that contradicts your spouse?

If our industry is going to survive, we have to know our competition. It’s no secret that video has become pretty much a free-for-all, and folks have a lot of ways to get it. We’re not the only game in town anymore. And we’ve kinda made up for it by becoming a bit vendor. There is money in delivering data to subscribers, and most of us still remember that we do deliver video on the side. Any time you have a successful business you’re going to find other outfits trying to cut in on your success. At first they may chew around the edges a bit, picking off a customer here, one there. But as they have more success they start biting harder until you feel it, really feel it. Google “Internet service” in your ZIP CodeTM and look at what is available. You may be shocked, as I was. The phone companies, having essentially given up on DSL (though they still service their existing customers, as far as I can tell), are going all out for fiber optics. Their traditional residential phone service is for all intents dead, and their business service is facing extinction too. But they have other businesses that are thriving, providing cash to add to their already-substantial war chest. And they know fiber optics real good. Real good.

As you know, there are guys out there selling satellite-based Internet. Starlink is the best-known to most folks, but they aren’t the only game in town. I think their weaknesses are maybe cost of service and, for some applications, latency. Latency is the delay you experience between the time you send a bit and, variously, when someone else receives that bit or when you get a bit back. (Well, that’s not quite a rigorous definition, but it may help to think of it in those terms.) Their added latency is due to the time it takes for the signal to propagate up to the satellite and again to get from the satellite back to the receiving station. Sure, the signal is traveling at the speed of light, but that ain’t infinity, and the satellites are way away. For that reason, you put the satellites in as low an orbit as you can. But low orbit has some disadvantages. For instance, air drag is a factor. Remember, there is no altitude at which the air ceases to exist, and the lower you go, the more air atoms you have for the satellite to bump into, each slowing the satellite a little. Over the months or years those bumps slow the satellite, lowering its orbit, ultimately causing it to fall out of the sky. What would Chicken Little say? Also, the low orbit means that each satellite can “see” less land area, causing you to have to put up more satellites.

Then there are the 5G people, who use advanced cellphone communications technology to communicate directly with subscribers. That works, but the realities of bandwidth (the more people you serve, the more bandwidth you need, said bandwidth being a finite resource) limit the number of people they can serve, or force them to put up more cellular towers. But in some cases it can make good financial sense to use 5G (6G in the future) to provide service.

Finally, there are guys who resell other peoples’ fiber as their own. In some cases they may have some fiber of their own in the air (or under the ground). Would it make sense if our industry worked with them, letting them sell our facilities with their name on it? Is this already going on some places? Maybe, maybe not. Does it make sense? Maybe, maybe not.

So what does all this competition mean to us? Is it time for us to put our F connectors in the dust bin and slink away? NO, NO, NO. But it is time for us to get serious about the competition and to meet it head-on. And we can all help with that task, by doing our job better. Do it better today then you did yesterday, but not as good as you’ll do tomorrow. Those of you who regularly contact customers in carrying out your duties have a great opportunity to do just that. Those of you whose job doesn’t involve subscriber contact can also do it too: do your job more efficiently, have a smile and an encouraging word for your co-workers, helping them to do a better job.

Now, back to the Phantom Lair so I can complain about this lousy world and all the idiots in it…

You never know when The “masked” Phantom is standing right beside you. Sometimes he is in a Zoom meeting or virtual SCTE training session with you. He may be hanging with the suits and other times with the front liners. But be assured, The Phantom knows all and, most importantly, The Phantom sees all!

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