Why Now versus Later Matters for Broadband Expansion

Whether you've just won the opportunity to serve new markets with subsidies from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) or are worried about competitive inroads from RDOF winners, or are just simply working your plan to expand your addressable market for broadband services, there is one decision that can make or break your business case.

Which market do you invest in first? How about the second market? Third? Last?

These are not simple decisions. Making wise investment choices requires extensive knowledge. To determine market prioritization, you need to identify the potential return on investment (ROI) for each market and stack rank them. But you cannot do that without insight and the ability to model numerous network scenarios.  The quality of your data can make or break your success.

Check out our latest news in Light Reading -GeoLinks uses VCTI for RDOF Network Planning 

Insight Required to Maximize Investment

To be able to identify the comparative ROIs, you need visibility into the following topics:

• • • Do I have an accurate count of the serviceable households and businesses within the market?
    • Where and how can I expand my service footprint to the most houses at the least cost?
    • What does it cost to extend my existing network or build a new network to serve the market with my target service levels (speed and latency)?
      • Cost per household?
      • Cost per node?
      • First cost to build?
    • What are the comparative costs for wireline and wireless?
    • Which speeds are available within that market today?
    • What are the competitors doing (or planning) in these markets?
    • Have any competitors recently won a government (federal or state) subsidy to serve that market?
    • What insight do I have into the market's ability to buy a gig or 100 Mbps service?

The bottom line is that the choices you make for the build now versus build later will have a material impact on the speed with which you acquire new customers, strengthen cash flow, and build momentum.

Only with the ability to carry out an accurate, comprehensive comparative analysis of the markets and the technology options to serve them will you be able to make investment decisions intelligently.

VCTI's offers a robust planning service, powered by VCTI NOCPlan™, an automated planning tool with sophisticated algorithms and highly accurate serviceable location data that can be calibrated to individual service provider architecture specifications for virtually any network technology. The service delivers comprehensive economic analysis about optimized build options across multiple wireline and wireless technologies, enabling service providers to reach the most households at the lowest cost and identify and prioritize the markets with the strongest, fastest ROI potential.

If you don't have the insights to get an accurate view into the markets' ROI implications in front of you, get a free consultation below. We can help you on to a Smart Path for Broadband Growth.