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Understanding Demand Aggregation in Fiber Broadband and Its Role in COS Business Engine

The success of a fiber broadband network relies on more than just deploying infrastructure—it depends on ensuring that there is enough demand to make the investment viable. This is where demand aggregation comes into play. By gathering and analyzing interest from potential customers before building out the network, broadband providers can optimize deployment, reduce financial risk, and accelerate take-up rates.

What Is Demand Aggregation in Fiber Broadband?

Demand aggregation is the process of collecting and analyzing consumer interest in fiber broadband before network construction begins. This approach helps service providers:

  • Identify areas with the highest demand
  • Prioritize network rollout to maximize return on investment (ROI)
  • Reduce financial and operational risks by ensuring there are enough subscribers
  • Engage communities early, fostering awareness and commitment to fiber adoption

Instead of deploying fiber and hoping customers will sign up, demand aggregation ensures that ISPs and network operators invest in locations where there is a proven interest.

How Demand Aggregation Works in COS Business Engine

COS Business Engine provides an advanced and automated approach to demand aggregation, making it easier for fiber network operators to gauge interest, manage pre-signups, and strategically plan their network build. Here’s how it works:

1. Capturing Customer Interest

The process begins by enabling potential customers to express interest in fiber broadband through an online registration form in the customer portal. This portal allows residents and businesses to sign up and indicate their level of commitment, whether it’s simply interest or a pre-order.

2. Geographic Demand Mapping

COS Business Engine segments the network area into demand zones like neighborhoods or towns. The platform then tracks how many residents in each zone have registered their interest, providing real-time insight into the highest demand.

3. Setting Take-Rate Thresholds

Network operators can set a minimum take-rate threshold for each area to ensure a viable deployment. For example, if a provider requires a 40% commitment level before proceeding, COS Business Engine will track progress toward that goal and notify stakeholders when the target is met.

4. Automated Customer Engagement

Through the system’s built-in communication tools, potential customers receive automated updates, marketing materials, and calls to action, encouraging them to complete their sign-up. This engagement helps drive momentum and increase participation rates.

5. Decision-Making and Rollout Planning

Once a neighborhood or zone reaches the required take rate, COS Business Engine flags it as ready for deployment. The system can then automatically transition pre-signups into active orders, streamlining the next steps for network construction and service activation.

6. Post-Deployment Conversion and Service Activation

After installing fiber, COS Business Engine plays a crucial role in converting interested customers into paying subscribers. The system ensures a seamless transition from demand aggregation to order fulfillment and service provisioning.

The Benefits of Demand Aggregation with COS Business Engine

  • Optimized Network Investments: Focus resources on areas with proven demand, reducing financial risk.
  • Faster Market Entry: Prioritizing high-interest zones speeds up customer acquisition and revenue generation.
  • Higher Take Rates: Engaging communities early leads to more substantial adoption rates once the network goes live.
  • Automated and Efficient Process: COS Business Engine eliminates manual tracking, providing a seamless, data-driven approach.

Demand aggregation is a critical strategy for ensuring a fiber broadband network’s financial and operational success. COS Business Engine provides the tools necessary to automate and optimize this process, allowing network operators to make informed decisions, minimize risk, and maximize customer adoption. By leveraging demand aggregation, fiber providers can build smarter, more efficient networks that meet real customer needs from day one.

Would you like me to include specific case studies or examples?

Ready to optimize your operations? Contact us today to learn more!

COS Systems, SNG, and Valo Publish Joint White Paper on Options to Bridge Broadband Gaps 

 

November 9th, 2023, Umeå Sweden — Strategic Networks Group (SNG), Valo, and COS Systems today announced that they have published a white paper exploring the challenges that bridging broadband gaps in unserved and underserved areas entails, as well as presenting possible approaches to address them.

This whitepaper explores the challenges faced by localities (communities, regions, etc.) and presents four potential options to address their broadband gaps: do nothing, subsidize an ISP, become an ISP, or develop a digital infrastructure public-private partnership.

After thorough evaluation, the digital infrastructure public-private partnership (PPP) approach emerges as the most recommended solution because it leverages the strengths of both public and private sectors to ensure affordable broadband access is available to all.

The release of the white paper “Leaving No One Behind in an Increasingly Digital World–Options for Unserved and Underserved Areas to Bridge Broadband Gaps” is the outcome of a long partnership between SNG, COS, and Valo to enable stewardship of localities’ digital future that is sustainable, inclusive, and cost-effective.

Ensuring that no one in your locality is left behind in an increasingly digital world means that everybody can access reliable and affordable high-speed internet. This broadband connectivity has become an essential infrastructure for localities. However, there are still areas where broadband services are non-existent (unserved) or inadequate (underserved).

This joint whitepaper compares the various options available to localities seeking to bridge their broadband gaps and ensure equitable access to digital opportunities. Recognizing that a one-size-fits-all solution does not exist, the paper analyzes the advantages and drawbacks of each proposed option to help decision-makers make better-informed choices about their locality’s digital future.

“We are delighted to jointly announce this white paper highlighting different options to solve broadband gaps,” said Mikael Curri, founder and President of SNG. “We will continue to work with localities and the private sector to build a sustainable broadband and digital inclusion ecosystem.”

About Strategic Networks Group

If you want to learn more about digital infrastructure, public-private partnerships, digital inclusion, and how to get started, reach out to us at www.sngroup.com

About Valo

For more information on what it takes to set up, operate, or commercialize digital infrastructure, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at www.valonetworks.com

About COS Systems

COS Systems delivers cloud-hosted software to plan, build, and manage broadband networks globally. COS Business Engine is a proven network management solution (BSS/OSS) supporting traditional ISPs and Open Access networks.

 Demand Aggregation made easy! 

Our latest update in COS Business Engine makes it easier to track the progress in your network. How large is the demand for buildout in a specific area? Compare different areas in our new area page, both as a sortable list and in a map where areas can be shown color coded depending on their current phase or with a gradient indicating their take rate. Show the distribution of individual surveys or signups within an area. Is demand heavier in the northern part than in the southern? Just split the area in half and start connecting the northern part while you continue to gather interest in the southern part. 

Areas can be added as a layer in all maps, your imagination the only limit.

Good news everybody – order at COS has been restored and our all-around talent Spencer is back at the office!

After spending time away from us and doing something even more meaningful (being a full-time dad of three), Spencer has finally returned to the office and is ready to put his mind to and focus on how to connect the unconnected.

In order to write this piece, I’ve asked several colleagues what Spencer’s actual title is and what he’s especially good at. The answer won’t surprise those who know him but it seems from Sales to Customer Support and Business Development, he can do it all and he does it well! He might even be able to build the trenches to bury fiber conduits but I’m not sure…. 

So welcome back to the office Spencer!

How long have you been gone?

Spencer: About seven-eight months.

What’s your title?

Spencer: [Laughter] I’m not sure….*

What did you miss the most about working at COS?

Spencer: Warm coffee, the contact with our client’s and Ander’s jokes.

What are you especially looking forward to?

Spencer: Meeting new colleagues*, COFFEE!, playing padel, hearing about new customers and other COS updates.

*Like me, yey

You’ve been working at COS Systems for almost six years, what do you think we’re best at? 

Spencer: We’re not only a  great group of hard-working passionate colleagues but we also know how to have fun together when we are not working- Fika, Padel, some beers, etc.

I agree, thanks for taking the time to chat Spencer – now let’s get some coffee! 

If you want to know more about Spencer or (re)connect with him to talk about your fiber projects and needs, don’t hesitate to reach out. 

LinkedIn e-mail +46 72 557 39 90

 

*Note: Since our interview, Spencer has been promoted to Head of Technical Sales Support, congratulations!

“We could take Service Zones out of the box and make it work on day one. All we needed to do was add data, and we were off and running.”

Fast-growing South African firm says in Broadband Communities Magazine that COS Service Zones has made the search for customers in neighborhoods smarter and has boosted the company’s growth

Wanting to get away from the “build it and they will come” model of fiber-deployment, Vumatel used COS Systems Service Zones to pinpoint areas in communities across South Africa where demand was high. It’s been a critical part of the firm’s expansion in areas that have been underserved when it comes to Internet speed for years. Vumatel has already engaged more than 42 gated communities and suburbs in Johannesburg and Cape Town using Service Zones. Vumatel CEO Neil Schoeman aims to bring fiber to 200,000 homes in just a few years.

“We are incredibly pleased Vumatel has found COS to be so instrumental in its growth. We’re grateful for the opportunity to work with the ambitious firm, and we thank them for sharing their experiences in the BBC.”

says CMO Isak Finér. Read more

Norbert - The Open Access Expert, with a unique telecom background and extensive experience in Open Access Network operations.

 

Norbert will join forces with our sales team and ensure that our customers are well taken care of and get their voices heard. Born and raised in France, he has been living in the US for 22 years and is today based in San Francisco, California. From there, he will further strengthen our presence in the US, making it even easier to provide that little extra for our North American customers. Aside from helping our customers to get to know our system as well as possible, he will make sure their feedback is used to make our products even better.

Norbert added a creative touch to his background in engineering and on top of his master’s degrees in Telecom and Business Unit Management, studying Liberal Arts in Madrid. He has worldwide experience in the telecom and IT industries, working for global equipment suppliers and operators in large corporations and start-ups. He has worked in consulting, sales and operations, and managed relationships with government representatives, enterprises, and strategic partners. 

Norbert shares our passion for Open Access and has worked as an Operations Director for Covage, an open access network operator in France and Spain.

To name just a few more of his former positions, he has worked as Services Director for Huawei in France, and before that, held a position as Business Development Manager for Interwave, a Silicon Valley start-up selling wireless solutions in Latin America and Asia. 

Before joining our team, Norbert has been working as a Consulting Director/Account Manager, covering the US and Canada, for a software company that develops web-based work management software.

Aside from Norbert’s professional background, San Francisco bay is his playground and he has already invited the team on a trip on his new sailing boat. Other than that, he is a fan of the golden state warriors who just won the 2022 NBA Championship!

“Norbert has a unique combination of an international telecom background and being one of few in the USA with extensive Open Access Network operations experience. As we now see a wave of new Open Access operators starting up in North America, and choosing our platform for their operations, there is no doubt  Norbert will be of great value for our growing team and customer base,” says Isak Finér, COS Systems CRO. 

 

Click here to connect with Norbert

Illustration of The Road to Broadband concept with roads representing progress and connectivity.

Now is the time for communities to invest in broadband infrastructure to improve citizens’ quality of life and promote economic prosperity. When opportunities arise, will your organization be ready? States, municipalities, community organizations, Tribal governments, and community groups must strategize NOW if they intend to get their proposed projects “shovel-ready” for deep, detailed applications and, ultimately, funding.

That’s why NoaNet is hosting these upcoming FREE “Road to Broadband” virtual workshops for communities on Nov. 30 and Dec. 16. There will be practical conversations to learn from communities and organizations that have been there.

Do like COS Systems! Join NoaNet for Broadband 101 if you want to grasp the basics- or stick with the workshop for both afternoons to get a solid understanding of the considerations of taking on a community telecommunications project in this step-by-step virtual workshop.

Speakers will include:
• PUDs, Cities, and Ports providing Broadband Solutions,
• Broadband Strategists,
• Grant Writers,
• The Washington State Broadband Office,
• The Community Economic Revitalization Board,
• Telecom Network Engineers,
• Technology Vendors,
• and more!

Click here to read more about the Workshop and to register!