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South Valley Internet to Build Rural Fiber Using COS Service Zones

South Valley Internet (SVI) has been serving South Santa Clara County with Internet for over 20 years. After recently being awarded a grant from the state of California to expand their network reach, they will now utilize COS Service Zones to aggregate demand for their Fiber enabled Internet and VOIP services and use the customer interest to determine the build-out order in this new expansion.

San Martin, CA – “We’ve been in this industry for a long time and we’ve evolved from offering dial-up services, copper based services, point-to-point wireless and are now thrilled to join the fiber revolution” says South Valley Internet President & COO Elise Brentnall. “The grant funding we were just awarded will allow us to expand faster and offer high speed broadband to people in our community who currently have very limited or no service at all. Still, despite our excitement we won’t rush into construction, but expand in a way where we ensure that our budget for this project will allow us to reach as many customers as possible, which is why we’ve decided to use COS Service Zones.”

CASF (California Advanced Services Fund) was authorized in 2007 to bridge the “digital divide” in unserved and underserved areas in the state and is funded by a surcharge rate on revenues collected by telecommunications carriers from end-users. SVI has been awarded funding to build a fiber network infrastructure in Paradise Valley, located west of their home town San Martin.

“Paradise Valley is not a very large area, but it is quite rural which drives the cost of deployment up. We know we need most of the households to subscribe to make the numbers add up. That is why we will use COS Service Zones to sign up the customers before we initiate the build out. That way we can secure revenue early to minimize the economic risk in our investment and also use the known demand to plan out the phases of our deployment. We will build first where we have the most subscribers and thus serve those who want our services most first and also maximize our initial revenue. It’s a win-win for us and the community,” says Brentnall.

“To us at COS, the team at SVI are heroes. To build broadband networks in urban city centers is one thing, but to be able to serve the rural areas is much harder. We are excited to be part of this project and happy that our products are helping to connect unserved Americans to the networks of the future and the new economy,” says COS Systems CMO Isak Finer.

“High speed broadband is essential for economic development and quality of life. As a local company it feels fantastic to be able to offer the residents and businesses of Paradise Valley access to all the new services enabled by our fiber network now and in the future,“ says Brentnall.

About South Valley Internet

South Valley Internet was founded in 1994. Our mission is simple, “SVI will provide the best Internet and phone service possible.” Our vision is to use innovative technology to continually improve our products and services. This includes our commitment to always deliver top quality customer service and excellent value. We are dedicated to becoming the communications company of choice for the South Valley including the communities of Morgan Hill, Gilroy, San Martin and Hollister.

About COS Service Zones

“Build it, and they will come?” Now, there’s a better way to roll-out fiber-optics by beginning with committed customers. No more deploying from one end of town to the other only to chase customers after. Just follow these steps:

  1. Draw up multiple competing zones across your city or town.
  2. See demand build in real-time as customers signup using your branded website.
  3. Wait until target take-rate is reached before deploying to accelerate profitability.

Our mission: Subscriber-backed, successful fiber, with no more failed projects. COS Service Zones brings broadband to homes all across the globe. Let’s discover the demand in your community.

About COS Systems

COS SYSTEMS is a leading provider of software to plan, deploy and manage modern broadband networks that support services from one or more providers, using a powerful yet simple self-service interface. COS Systems takes customer needs and delivers innovative software solutions that streamline operations, accelerate revenue and deliver more satisfied subscribers. Learn more about COS Systems on www.cossystems.com.

For additional information, contact:

Elise J. Brentnall
President & COO
SVI Incorporated
+1 (800)-899-4125
elise.brentnall@garlic.com
www.garlic.com

 

Isak Finér
Chief Marketing Officer
COS Systems
+46 737 51 99 38
isak.finer@cossystems.com
www.cossystems.com

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COS Service Zones Feature in Focus – Service Layers

COS Service Zones Service Layers

Manage Varying Installation Costs and Availability Effectively

When deploying a new broadband network, be it Fiber or Wireless, there are always circumstances that make it more expensive or even impossible to reach some customers. In the case of a Fiber build it might be tough ground conditions, unusually far between houses or simply no space on poles if doing an aerial build. If deploying a wireless network, it might just be the topography of the landscape that makes certain locations unreachable from the tower or the location of your antennas. When it comes to the varying cost, you might decide that it will even out over time and that everyone will have the same (or no) connection and installation fee. But how do you handle those locations that you will not be able to serve, serve only at a significantly higher price for the end customer, or perhaps only with an alternative technology?

Well, if swings and round-abouts doesn’t do it for you and you don’t want to have your customer care staff talking to disappointed customers who had their hopes up only to be informed that their home was unfortunately not within reach – the Service Layer functionality of COS Service Zones might be the solution you are looking for.

But first, if you are new to COS Service Zones, here is a very short description of what this software is; COS Service Zones is a cloud hosted and web based broadband demand aggregation platform. It enables network builders to split their intended network footprint, their Service Area(s), into smaller neighborhood zones, or “fiberhoods”. Each zone will have a take-rate target (a percentage of the housholds) for the neighborhood to reach in order to qualify for the next phase in the race to get connected to the new broadband network. The platform comes with out-of-the-box surveying functionality to gather interest and information about existing providers and services in the initial phases of the project, and signup functionality with optional credit card deposits. It is also used throughout the construction to proactively keep each neighborhood informed about how the build-out will happen on their streets.

Now, let’s give an example of when the Service Layer comes into play. In a neighborhood, there is one street where the lots are very large and the houses have very long driveways. Connecting these houses in an underground fiber scenario, would be three times more expensive than the typical home. At the same installation price for the subscriber as all other homes, it would never pay off to connect them. In this scenario it’s most suitable to use the address based Service Layer. In the Administration Portal of COS Service Zones you create a new Service Layer and define the addresses that should be a part of it. Then you create specific service offerings that should be available in this service layer, in this case the same fiber services, but with a higher initial connection fee.  Now, if a person in one of these houses would search for their address, they would find themselves being in their neighborhood Service Zone, but the services would not be what everyone else are presented, but the specific services you defined for the address based service layer.

The geography based Service Layer would more likely be used in the wireless scenario. Let’s say you have determined the location where you would place your wireless tower, if enough customers in the surrounding area would sign up. Based on the tower placement, the topography and the equipment you can use the expertise of different companies to help create coverage maps, meaning the areas where the signal will reach and where it will not reach. These kind of maps can be used to create a Service Layer that is not made up of addresses, but rather a geographical area. The services offered are tied to the Service Layer and thus, when potential customers search for their address in COS Service Zones, only those whos’ addresses’ coordinates are within the boundaries of the Service Layer will be presented with a service offering.

Of course Service Layers can overlap. At one location the customer might belong to two Service layers. Exemplifying this with the two scenarios above, a person in one of those more expensive locations could also be in the coverage area of a wireless tower and could then choose between the Fiber service with the higher installation fee, or the wireless connection also available at his address.

In short, a Service Layer is a group of addresses where a specific service offering is available, defined as a simple list or by geographical boundaries on a map. It’s a great way to be proactive in your sales towards future customer, avoiding a lot of questions and disappointment. By using this functionality you can pinpoint your offerings down to the address level and the customers can inform themselves on what is available at their exact address whenever it suites them, without having to wait in any phone que. You get more effective and your customers will get correct information faster. A true win-win.

 

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Demand Proven by COS Service Zones Guides Spiral Internet as They Connect Nevada County

Portal for Internet Registration with Spiral Internet
Portal for Internet Registration with Spiral Internet

Demand Proven by COS Service Zones Guides Spiral Internet as They Connect Nevada County

In 2010 Google announced they would choose a city to connect with Gigabit Internet. When their home town wasn’t chosen, Spiral Internet founder John Paul decided to bring Fiber Internet to the county himself. With years of support from the community and its leaders and demand proven by a more recent COS Service Zones demand aggregation campaign, the time to start deploying fiber is now.

Nevada City, CA – “It’s a fantastic feeling to get the final preparations done for our soon-to-be gigabit fiber optic network deployment” says Spiral Internet CEO John Paul. “The start of this incredible journey was the work on the city’s application for Google Fiber that I led back in 2010. We understood we probably wouldn’t be chosen, but it was amazing to see how many people were willing to engage in the project and it proved to us that better Internet is badly needed in our home county. It is this enthusiasm for better connections that has given us at Spiral the energy to pursue our dream to connect the county with fiber throughout these years.”

Spiral Internet has been an ISP in the county since 2006 and has traditionally delivered mainly DSL over AT&T’s network, but that is about to change. Funding has been granted for a fiber deployment with the initial phase of the build-out planned for the summer of 2017.

“When getting closer to deployment and investments in construction work and equipment, it becomes more important than ever to make sure we spend our dollars in the best possible way. Late 2016 we signed an agreement with COS Systems to use their demand aggregation platform COS Service Zones to start taking signups in predefined neighborhoods with take-rate targets to be reached. We launched the platform on January 1st and have since then seen demand grow as people take the built-in survey in areas for future expansions and signup doing a credit card deposit in our first phase area. Our best neighborhood already has 83% of the residents pre-signed up with deposits, which is fantastic! We know it won’t be a bad investment building there,” says John Paul.

 

“Spiral Internet is a great company to work with. They have planned this Fiber build-out thoroughly and have rallied their community in a fantastic way. We are grateful to be part of the journey and contribute as we can with our demand aggregation platform COS Service Zones. Now we are eager to hear from Spiral what their subscribers say when they get to try a Gig connection, perhaps for the very first time,” says COS Systems CMO Isak Finer.

About Spiral

Spiral became an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in May 2006 when the Nevada County Community Network (NCCN) Board of Directors asked Chip Carman and John Paul, the then owners of Spiral, to bring new services and energies to their customer base. Because of Spiral’s active community volunteer work in western Nevada County, NCCN felt we were the perfect fit to take care of the over 200 non-profit organizations, as well as over 1500 customers that rely on friendly, reliable Internet access, web site hosting and technical support. We thought about it for a few days, then came back and said “yes”.

Since then, Spiral has provided DSL service over the AT&T network, and still some dial-up service to customers. In 2015, Spiral launches the Bright Fiber Network, the first gigagibt 100% fiber optic to the home/business Internet service in rural northern California. You can watch our short promotional video “It Starts with Light” by clicking here. And watch our 90-minute Gigabit Launch event (with lots of information about our project) by clicking here.

About COS Service Zones

“Build it, and they will come?” Now, there’s a better way to roll-out fiber-optics by beginning with committed customers. No more deploying from one end of town to the other only to chase customers after. Just follow these steps:

  1. Draw up multiple competing zones across your city or town.
  2. See demand build in real-time as customers signup using your branded website.
  3. Wait until target take-rate is reached before deploying to accelerate profitability.

Our mission: Subscriber-backed, successful fiber, with no more failed projects. COS Service Zones brings broadband to homes all across the globe. Let’s discover the demand in your community.

About COS Systems

COS SYSTEMS is a leading provider of software to plan, deploy and manage modern broadband networks that support services from one or more providers, using a powerful yet simple self-service interface. COS Systems takes customer needs and delivers innovative software solutions that streamline operations, accelerate revenue and deliver more satisfied subscribers. Learn more about COS Systems on www.cossystems.com.

For additional information, contact:

John Paul
CEO
Spiral Internet
+1 (530) 478-9822
johnp@spiral.com
www.spiral.com

Isak Finér
Chief Marketing Officer
COS Systems
+46 737 51 99 38
isak.finer@cossystems.com
www.cossystems.com

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Marketbroadband.com Offers Tailored Marketing Program for COS Service Zones Demand Aggregation Campaigns

COS Systems and Market Broadband
Market Broadband - Group Picture of COS Systems CFO, Partner Manager, and Ken Janc from Lorex Inc

Demand Aggregation and Traditional Marketing

Isak Finér, CMO COS Systems, Ken Janc, CEO Lorex Inc., Bjorn Wannman, Manager Partnerships and Strategic Accounts COS Systems

 COS Service Zones is a cloud hosted demand aggregation solution to effectively engage the community to show their interest in broadband prior to a network build-out. In addition to the built-in functionality to drive word-of-mouth it has proved efficient to boost it with traditional marketing. Marketbroadband.com, powered by Minnesota based Lorex, Inc., with 20 years of broadband marketing experience, now offers a marketing program tailored for COS Service Zones Campaigns.

Elk River, MN – “COS Service Zones is a powerful platform to generate demand for broadband by dividing the intended service area into neighborhood zones, with a take-rate target for the neighbors to try to reach. The neighborhoods are defined by zones on the map with distinct borders. We have been working with GIS based marketing for many years and that is why this cooperation between us and COS Systems is such a great fit,” says Lorex, Inc., CEO Ken Janc. Lorex is the company behind MarketBroadband.com.

When doing a mail based campaign you are normally directed to either ZIP codes or postal routes. Using any of these methods to send your marketing material out means you might inadvertently send it to those you aren’t even intending to build out your network to service. Not only does this incur extra cost, it will also get the hopes up among people you’re not planning to serve. To avoid this, MarketBroadband.com has ways to instead use GIS shapefiles to extract the residential as well as business addresses within the defined borders of the area. This is done at the address-level, so your mail campaign will be precisely targeting the area and the people you want to reach. You are not paying for more than you need.

“For COS Service Zones customers working with Marketbroadband.com, the process is extremely easy. Just let our support team know that you are working with MarketBroadband.com and we will make sure they get all the necessary files for the neighborhood zones. Then you simply direct MarketBroadband.com as to which neighborhoods that you want to target with your mailer. It’s even possible to take the standard reports from service zones with already signed up customers and send to Ken’s team if doing a second mailer. They will then remove those addresses from the mailing list and your even more targeted in your mail-out and minimizing costs, “ says Bjorn Wannman, Manager Partnerships and Strategic Accounts at COS systems.

In addition to this unique approach to pinpointing mail campaigns, Marketbroadband.com can provide all relevant marketing material for a full campaign, including magnetic banners for installation machinery, the perfect marketing for a broadband buildout since it’s something no one misses. Yard signs, banners and other printed material that you might need are also available from MarketBroadband .

“We do our design and printing in-house, so we are flexible and fast,” says Ken Janc.

“With COS Service Zones you want to engage with the local Champions, grassroots who are willing to help you rally their neighbors to sign up for your services and get the word-of-mouth about the build-out going on Social Media etc. But you need to spread the awareness of your project in the first place and for that, traditional marketing and in particular mailers are very powerful. Everyone checks their mailbox daily, right? We are very fortunate to have found an established and experienced US partner, that has an offer that fits like hand in glove with ours. This cooperation makes our customer’s even more successful in their demand aggregation campaigns ” says COS Systems CMO Isak Finer.

About Marketbroadband.com, powered by Lorex, Inc.

 MarketBroadband.com has been helping ISP’s and other home services providers execute highly effective marketing programs for over 20 years. Using proprietary GIS Mapping and Targeting tools, clients can target at the address level within—and only within—their serviceable market. Learn more about MarketBroadband.com by visiting www.MarketBroadband.com. Learn more about Lorex, the engine behind MarketBroadband.com, by visiting www.LorexInc.com.

About COS Service Zones

“Build it, and they will come?” Now, there’s a better way to roll-out fiber-optics by beginning with committed customers. No more deploying from one end of town to the other only to chase customers after. Just follow these steps:

  1. Draw up multiple competing zones across your city or town.
  2. See demand build in real-time as customers signup using your branded website.
  3. Wait until target take-rate is reached before deploying to accelerate profitability.

Our mission: Subscriber-backed, successful fiber, with no more failed projects. COS Service Zones brings broadband to homes all across the globe. Let’s discover the demand in your community.

About COS Systems

COS SYSTEMS is a leading provider of software to plan, deploy and manage modern broadband networks that support services from one or more providers, using a powerful yet simple self-service interface. COS Systems takes customer needs and delivers innovative software solutions that streamline operations, accelerate revenue and deliver more satisfied subscribers. Learn more about COS Systems on www.cossystems.com.

For additional information, contact:

Ken Janc
CEO
Lorex, Inc
1-800-792-8812
kenjanc@lorexinc.com
www.MarketBroadband.com

 

Isak Finér
Chief Marketing Officer
COS Systems
+46 737 51 99 38
isak.finer@cossystems.com
www.cossystems.com

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COS Systems Recognized as One of Sweden’s 33 Most Promising Tech Companies

Promising Tech Companies: COS Systems team at the recognition event.

Every year the leading tech and business magazines NyTeknik (New Technology) and Affärsvärlden (Business World) presents the list of Sweden’s most promising tech companies, poised to be game changers in their industries worldwide. The list has a proven track record of identifying young and innovative tech companies with potential for rapid global expansion, such as Spotify and Minecraft creators Mojang. Today COS Systems takes its place among these select few.

Stockholm, Sweden – The renowned 33 List celebrates its ten year anniversary with the event in the Swedish capital Stockholm on April 4th. Looking back at previous years’ lists there are several examples of companies that have been game changers and gained a leading position on a global market such as Spotify. A large number of the companies have been listed on stock exchanges and continue to grow rapidly, while some get acquired by the tech giants of the world, such as Apple, Microsoft and Google.

”The 33 List is where to look for up and coming tech companies. Seeing your company on that list is fantastic to say the least, but to identify yourself as a potential game changer in an industry is perhaps being over ambitious. Still, I honestly think we can help our customers overcome two big challenges they face. With COS Service Zones we help our customers generate and aggregate demand prior to the fiber build-out, making sure the network won´t fail due to lack of customers, which historically has been quite common. Also, many municipally owned networks are looking at the Open Access model with multiple private providers delivering service on their network to ensure competition and a choice of services and providers for their residents. This is a hard business model to manage, but that is something our systems has proven to do extremely well, “says COS Systems CMO Isak Finer.

 

“The fiber broadband industry is exploding in the USA and we at COS have worked hard to become an established provider in the marketplace. It takes some time to build the necessary relationships and trust, but we feel well positioned now to continue our successful expansion, primarily in the USA, but also elsewhere. Since we host our products in the cloud and they are built to be translated we can take on customers pretty much anywhere. From the start we built with global expansion in mind, as many Swedish companies do,” says Finer

 

“Sweden is not a large market in itself which is why international expansion is vital to growing tech companies. We have come far with most of our customers on export markets now, but for us it often feels like we are just getting started. This recognition proves that we not only have the right products, but also a strong position from where we can accelerate our international growth. For us as well as for any tech company in Sweden, making the 33 List is definitely a milestone to be proud of!“ summarizes COS Systems CEO Peter Lidstrom.

About 33-Listan

Which of today’s technology start-ups have the potential to be the stock exchange giants of tomorrow? To find out, Affärsvärlden and Ny Teknik have come up with the most important list currently available – 33-listan. This list has existed for ten years, and all the judges are editors on the teams at Affärsvärlden and Ny Teknik. Find out more about 33-list.

About COS Systems

COS Systems delivers cloud-hosted software to plan, build, and operate broadband networks globally.

COS Service Zones allows network builders to draw competing zones, or “Fiberhoods,” across their city and see real-time demand grow as customers sign up using branded websites. Once target take-rates are reached, the networks are deployed backed by committed customers and secured revenue.

COS Business Engine is a proven network management solution, supporting both single provider and Open Access Networks. Subscribers buy their Internet services from an online marketplace, which increases take rates, ARPU, and customer satisfaction, as the network owner can offer 24/7 availability while reaching maximum operations efficiency, thanks to the extensive use of the self-service solutions.

COS Systems takes customer needs and creates innovative software solutions that streamline customers’ business processes, boost sales and profitability, and create satisfied customers.

 

For additional information, contact:

Peter Lidstrom
Chief Executive Officer
COS Systems
+46 70 656 58 72
peter.lidstrom@cossystems.com
www.cossystems.com

or

Isak Finér
Chief Marketing Officer
COS Systems
+46 737 51 99 38
isak.finer@cossystems.com
www.cossystems.com

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Our Customer Skekraft.net was announced the Best City Network in Sweden 2017

Skekraft Awarded Best City Network in Sweden 2017

Skekraft Awarded Best City Network in Sweden 2017
The Swedish Local Fibre Alliance is a non-profit trade association for network owners. It was established in 1998 and has about one hundred open access muni networks as members. At their annual conference, they announced Skekraft as the Best City Network in Sweden 2017.

Skelleftea Kraft Fiber Network (Skekraft.net) started their fiber deployment in the early 2000’s. After being a single provider themselves for the first years, they took the decision in 2009 to migrate over to an Open Access model. The positive effects from bringing in competition was immediate and today they have 11 providers offering Gigabit speed Internet, IP phone services, TV services as well as triple play packages on their network. With an abundance of providers and services to choose from and thus very competitive prices, they are boasting very impressive take-rates. They reach almost all of Skelleftea, a city with 33 000 residents, and a few of the larger surrounding villages, but are now expanding further out into the rural parts of the county they serve.

”In Skelleftea the city network has had the courage to try new approaches to increase the quality of their network. By organizationally separating the daily network operations from the group responsible for the network expansions with great success, Skelleftea Kraft proves that it’s not only about building networks, but also about operating them in a manner ensuring that the highest quality standards are met”, says Jorgen Svardh, Chairman of the Swedish Local Fibre Alliance, when announcing the winners.

 

“At COS Systems we are very proud that one of our first customers has been awarded this prestigious title. Ever since 2010 we’ve provided them with our BSS/OSS solution COS Business Engine to support them in their Open Access network operations. During these years we’ve seen their take-rate increase greatly and the ever improving financial figures they present makes your jaw drop, especially when considering that the prices of services on their network are among the lowest in Sweden as well as globally. We are also very pleased that we are part of their expansion process with COS Service Zones, helping them to generate and aggregate demand for fiber prior to deployment and thereby enabling them to build out their network where they will have the best ROI,” says COS Systems CMO Isak Finer.

 

“A well-deserved recognition for a fantastic job being done not just today, but every single day of the year. Our warmest congratulations to Skekraft!“ concludes Peter Lidstrom, CEO of COS Systems.

About COS Systems

COS Systems delivers cloud-hosted software to plan, build, and operate broadband networks globally.

COS Service Zones allows network builders to draw competing zones, or “Fiberhoods,” across their city and see real-time demand grow as customers sign up using branded websites. Once target take-rates are reached, the networks are deployed backed by committed customers and secured revenue. COS Service Zones delivers subscriber-backed, successful broadband networks, and no more failed projects.

COS Business Engine is a proven network management solution, supporting both single provider and Open Access Networks. Subscribers buy their Internet services from an online marketplace, which increases take rates, ARPU, and customer satisfaction, as the network owner can offer 24/7 availability, while reaching maximum operations efficiency, thanks to the extensive use of self-service solutions.

COS Systems takes customer needs and creates innovative software solutions that streamline customers’ business processes, boost sales and profitability, and create satisfied customers.

For additional information, contact:

Isak Finér
Chief Marketing Officer
COS Systems
+46 737 51 99 38
isak.finer@cossystems.com
www.cossystems.com

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Interoperability of COS Systems Demand Aggregation Suite with VETRO FiberMap™

VETRO FiberMap™ and COS Systems announce that the COS Service Zones demand aggregation suite is now fully compatible with the VETRO FiberMap

VETRO FiberMap™ and COS Systems announce that the COS Service Zones demand aggregation suite is now fully compatible with the VETRO FiberMap
VETRO FiberMap™ and COS Systems announce that the COS Service Zones demand aggregation suite is now fully compatible with the VETRO FiberMap fiber network GIS platform, delivering a seamless solution for ISPs seeking industry leading solutions for both demand generation and network infrastructure management.

Portland, ME–(March 20th, 2017)-  VETRO FiberMap™, a leading provider of solutions for fiber network mapping and broadband infrastructure management, and COS Systems, makers of broadband survey and demand capture tools and network operations software, today announced that VETRO and COS Service Zones now share data and work in concert, enabling superior network planning, building and ROI.

Accurately assessing demand for high speed, fiber-based internet service and deploying assets wisely are keys to ROI and overall success for ISPs. Laying out the engineering design, defining cost and building the network requires effective and easy to use GIS based mapping tools. By combining COS Service Zones and VETRO FiberMap™, ISPs have the opportunity for best of breed tools for both demand generation and network planning and management. This is a powerful combination for ISPs that face both fierce competition and time-to-market constraints.

The COS Service Zones toolset helps ISPs assess the current landscape, measure interest in new service through direct survey, and enable peer-to-peer promotion and publicity.  As would-be customers register their interest, an internet service provider gains data-driven insight into where to deploy network profitably.  VETRO FiberMap™ provides unprecedented functionality and ease of use for the network planning and inventory requirements of these same growing ISPs. Maintaining accurate and up to date inventory of network assets, including details about individual fiber strands, circuit paths, and splicing, is imperative for network operations.

“COS Service Zones is winning worldwide adoption amongst ISPs, Utilities, Coops and Public Private Partnerships.  They have discovered that COS Service Zones boosts their ability to build out in a more smart and targeted way.  The demand information captured in Service Zones and fed seamlessly into the VETRO FiberMap™ network engineering and asset management platform gives our customers a legitimate strategic advantage,” says Isak Finer, CMO for COS Systems.

 

“The VETRO FiberMap™ network GIS platform was built from the ground up to integrate with powerful specialty tools and core business applications. Our open API stack and design philosophy makes swift integration with great partners like COS Systems easier than ever,” says VETRO FiberMap™ co-founder Will Mitchell. “The network map is at the heart of all key business for an ISP, from the demand aggregation stage of planning to build and maintenance of plant. Our platform exposes the network map in harmony with new subscriber demand, bringing together marketing, engineering and logistics to give network builders the data and continual network awareness they require for game changing network expansions with highest possible ROI.”

About VETRO FiberMap™

VETRO FiberMap™ is a product of NBT Solutions, LLC, founded by experienced GIS mapping professionals who have long provided innovative technology and services to wireline and wireless telecommunications customers.  Our VETRO FiberMap™ Solution is a unique cloud based fiber network inventory platform, with an unrivaled suite of tools for the small and mid sized ISP.  Our fiber network GIS solution has the functionality, affordability and scalability to help level the playing field.  To learn more about the VETRO FiberMap™ solution, arrange demos and request a free trial please visit www.vetrofibermap.com, email us at sales@vetrofibermap.com or call 207.221.6627.

About COS Systems

COS SYSTEMS is a leading provider of software to plan, deploy and manage modern broadband networks that support services from one or more providers, using a powerful yet simple self-service interface. COS Systems takes customer needs and delivers innovative software solutions that streamline operations, accelerate revenue and deliver more satisfied subscribers. To learn more about the COS Service Zones demand aggregation solution, visit www.cossystems.com or email us at sales@cossystems.com

Will Mitchell
CEO
VETRO FiberMap
+1 207.650.2057
will@vetrofibermap.com
www.vetrofibermap.com

Isak Finér
Chief Marketing Officer
COS Systems
+46 737 51 99 38
isak.finer@cossystems.com
www.cossystems.com

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Smithville Chooses COS Service Zones to Verify Customer Demand for Residential Fiber

Smithville fiber using COS Service Zones to expanding in Bloomington

Smithville fiber using COS Service Zones to expanding in Bloomington
Overcoming Challenges and Extending Fiber


In addition to connecting business and residential customers in their ILEC areas with fiber, Indiana’s largest independent telephone company, Smithville, has been making big investments over the past few years to also  expand its fiber-optic network to business customers in CLEC areas throughout the state. Now they are looking to extend their high-speed fiber offering to residents in these challenging areas as well. To do so, they are using COS System’s demand aggregation platform COS Service Zones to secure that enough residents are willing to sign up to ensure a return on the investment justifying the build-out.

Bloomington, IN – “Building fiber here in Indiana is not an easy task with all the rock and Limestone. When targeting businesses, it’s easier to get the numbers together but we have now been considering our options on how to bring fiber to the residents in our CLEC areas for quite some time. We concluded that there’s only one way to do it without taking too big risks. We need to sell before we build,” says Smithville COO Dave Brodin.

“Initially we thought about developing something for this ourselves, but then found that COS Systems actually have an out-of-the box solution designed to do exactly what we wanted to do. It allows us to split our targeted area into competing neighborhoods and set take-rate targets for each neighborhood to reach. People can pre-signup for services, making a credit card deposit to verify that they are committed. People who are willing to make an extra effort in getting their neighborhood connected can also sign up as Champions through the website and we take really good care of those local heroes, get to know them and then use their help to do some of the local marketing,” says Melissa Wright, Project Manager at Smithville.

Streamlining Fiber Deployment with COS Service Zones

COS Service Zones is a self-service tool for those planning to build a broadband network. By simply logging in to your cloud hosted installation you can draw neighborhood zones in your intended service area. Then you decide on a target take-rate for each and every neighborhood to reach to get the network built first to them. In addition to social media integrations, referral programs and other features to build local engagement COS Service Zones comes with extensive reporting functionality to easily provide accurate and timely data supporting decision making.

“It was extremely easy to get started using COS Service Zones. It’s a very good product and well framed for what it’s intended to do. And even for an off-the shelf product that is so quick to get working in, it has more flexibility than you might first think and the COS Support team has been great in helping us do those tweaks,” says Wright.

“I’m not the one working in the system, but I still log in every morning to check out the dashboard to see what progress we’ve had since the day before. I can, for example, quickly see if a marketing activity has had a good effect. Due to the high cost of building here in Indiana we have quite high take-rate targets for our neighborhoods and who knows, despite our efforts we might not get enough customers signed up to move into the residential market with fiber just yet. But knowing that might actually be the biggest values of using a platform like Service Zones. Imagine if we had spent all that money and built the network only to find out later that people didn’t want it. That would have been really expensive,” concludes Brodin.

“It is just great to get a customer like Smithville onboard. Since they knew what they were looking for and had a clear picture of how they wanted to run their demand aggregation campaign they were up and running in no time. Our platform is built so that you should be able to do most things by yourself, but of course it’s very pleasing to hear they like our support team. Now we are all crossing our fingers that there will be enough demand to start connecting the first residents, but as Mr. Brodin said – knowing that you don’t have enough demand yet might be an even greater value than knowing that you do. Coming from Sweden where we started deploying fiber a long time ago we’ve seen many projects fail due to lacking demand and it was actually to prevent that from happening in the future we developed COS Service Zones,” says COS Systems CMO Isak Finer.

About Smithville

Recognized nationally as a Top 100 broadband provider, Smithville Fiber is built from the ground up by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers. An award-winning communications technology company, Smithville had modest beginnings nearly a century ago. While its products and services have changed as technology has, its commitment to its customers has remained steadfast. Today, that commitment is reflected in Smithville’s dedication to bringing the best available technology platform to Indiana residents for state-of-the-art communication and data services, all with the highest possible level of customer satisfaction.

Smithville knows all about Indiana family businesses — because it is one. While the company has grown to be Indiana’s largest privately held telecommunications company, its core family-focused values make it unique. From its corporate headquarters near Bloomington, Smithville employs nearly 200 Hoosiers and invests in community projects, large and small, in its service areas.

About COS Service Zones

“Build it, and they will come?” Now, there’s a better way to roll-out fiber-optics by beginning with committed customers. No more deploying from one end of town to the other only to chase customers after. Just follow these steps:

  1. Draw up multiple competing zones across your city or town.
  2. See demand build in real-time as customers signup using your branded website.
  3. Wait until target take-rate is reached before deploying to accelerate profitability.

Our mission: Subscriber-backed, successful fiber, with no more failed projects. COS Service Zones brings broadband to homes all across the globe. Let’s discover the demand in your community.

About COS Systems

COS SYSTEMS is a leading provider of software to plan, deploy and manage modern broadband networks that support services from one or more providers, using a powerful yet simple self-service interface. COS Systems takes customer needs and delivers innovative software solutions that streamline operations, accelerate revenue and deliver more satisfied subscribers. Learn more about COS Systems on www.cossystems.com.

For additional information, contact:

Melissa Patee
Project Manager
Smithville
+1 (812) 340-8622
Melissa.Patee@smithville.com
www.smithville.com

Isak Finér
Chief Marketing Officer
COS Systems
+46 737 51 99 38
isak.finer@cossystems.com
www.cossystems.com

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COS Systems Presents Major Upgrades to Their Cloud Hosted Demand Aggregation Platform COS Service Zones with the Launch of Version 3.0

With the release of COS Service Zones 2.0 in March 2016 the customer facing websites saw great improvements leaving even more choice to network builders to customize the appearance of their customer facing portal while still delivering an off-the-shelf product. With the introduction of COS Service Zones 3.0 the usability has been in focus making it even faster and easier to get up and running and manage the demand aggregation campaigns.

Umea, Sweden – “We have had customers launching their campaigns in less than a week from signing up, but some customers have required more time to get started. While we often hear it’s an easy to use software we still felt we needed to do a focused effort on simplifying the work of not only getting started using the platform but also to use it over time,” says Senior System Architect and COS Systems co-founder Peter Sjöblom.

COS Service Zones is a cloud-hosted software designed to enable any company or community planning to build a broadband network to divide their future service area into competing neighborhood zones. Residents and businesses are directed to an easily customized website where they can search for their address to see if they are in one of the zones competing to get service first. Each neighborhood zone has a take-rate threshold and it’s up to the residents to come together and prove that they want to be built first by signing up for service pre-deployment. Since first launched in 2013 it has undergone substantial development based on feedback from many types of customers and markets.

Simplified User Experience with COS Service Zones 3.0

“As you add functionality to a software system it obviously gets increasingly powerful and flexible, but complexity often increases as well. With this new major release of COS Service Zones we have made a substantial redesign of the user interface. It’s not about adding more functionality, but rather presenting all existing options in a comprehensible way. You shouldn’t need to search for things, but still not be drowned with information. We’ve tried to solve this with a brand new work-flow based dashboard,” says Development Lead Mattias Viberg. “It feels good getting out of the office for some paternity leave with this excellent new version released.”

“We release a new version of COS Service Zones about every quarter and are always looking forward to get the reactions from our customers. Since this release is so focused on usability we are especially eager to hear their feedback on this upgrade,” says COS Systems CEO Peter Lidstrom and continues, “If you’re developing software for a fast moving industry and a global market you’re never finished.”

About COS Service Zones

“Build it, and they will come?” Now, there’s a better way to roll-out fiber-optics by beginning with committed customers. No more deploying from one end of town to the other only to chase customers after. Just follow these steps:

  1. Draw up multiple competing zones across your city or town.
  2. See demand build in real-time as customers signup using your branded website.
  3. Wait until target take-rate is reached before deploying to accelerate profitability.

Our mission: Subscriber-backed, successful fiber, with no more failed projects. COS Service Zones brings broadband to homes all across the globe. Let’s discover the demand in your community.

About COS Systems

COS SYSTEMS is a leading provider of software to plan, deploy and manage modern broadband networks that support services from one or more providers, using a powerful yet simple self-service interface. COS Systems takes customer needs and delivers innovative software solutions that streamline operations, accelerate revenue and deliver more satisfied subscribers. Learn more about COS Systems on www.cossystems.com.

For additional information, contact:

Peter Lidstrom
Chief Executive Officer
COS Systems
+46 70 656 58 72
peter.lidstrom@cossystems.com
www.cossystems.com

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Automated FTTX Network Planning and Demand Aggregation

Comsof and COS Systems announce that FiberPlanIT, used for automated FTTx network planning, and COS Service Zones, used for Demand Aggregation, have been verified to be used collaboratively to enable fast and accurate fiber plans and deployment cost estimates based on actual customer demand.

FiberPlanIT and COS Service Zones in collaboration for FTTX network planningcos-sz

Ghent, Belgium – The starting point of every fiber network build-out is to decide which addresses to serve. These addresses to connect are needed to generate automated fiber network plans with FiberPlanIT, developed by Belgian software company and fiber deployment experts Comsof. FiberPlanIT creates network designs in a fraction of the time required to do it manually with a layout that minimizes the long and short term deployment and maintenance costs. Its advanced algorithms take in all the geographic information of the area and in the blink of an eye provide a detailed network design connecting every serviceable location at minimum cost compliant with the desired network architecture.

 

In the industry, the addresses to connect have traditionally been chosen based on estimates on where demand will be greatest or where deployment costs will be lowest. Now, with COS Service Zones you can instead choose a customer centric approach by targeting your future subscribers neighborhood by neighborhood with a demand aggregation campaign to pre-sell the fiber connections. With neighborhoods reaching take-rate thresholds and addresses where customers have already signed up as input for FiberPlanIT’s algorithms you can be sure to design a network that will start generating revenue from day one after deployment.

 

With the deployment cost calculations from FiberPlanIT and the revenue from subscribers pre-signed up in COS Service Zones as input your will have a complete Business Case to base your deployment decisions on.

 

“We have verified that the COS Service Zones data fits perfectly with our network design platform. The first step in a fiber project is to decide your target area, for this you need address information. Now we can propose a tool for them to use to get that address list from the most reliable source – their future subscribers. We are excited to help deliver not only well designed networks, but also networks with subscribers from the start, which guarantees profitability,” says Comsof CEO Raf Meersman.

 

“So many fiber projects have failed due to the wrong decision on where to start the build-out. We developed COS Service Zones to eliminate these unprofitable networks. But knowing the future revenue is only a part of the picture. FiberPlanIT will ensure that deployment costs are kept low and will give you the important cost component needed to make an optimal deployment decision. We look forward to see our customers build profitable networks designed with the help of FiberPlanIT,” says COS Systems CEO Peter Lidstrom.

 

About FiberPlanIT

FiberPlanIT is a software solution that turns FTTx network planning into profit by lowering planning and design time, avoiding design errors, and reducing construction costs. This is made possible thanks to FiberPlanIT’s unique automated and optimized design capabilities based on GIS data.

Learn more about FiberPlanIT at www.fiberplanit.com.

 

About Comsof

Started in 1998 as a spin-off company of the internationally recognized Department of Information Technology (Intec) of Ghent University, Comsof keeps in close touch with the state-of-the-art in ICT.
The success of Comsof is based on a team of highly-skilled professionals who combine an extensive technological knowledge concerning telecommunications, computer networking and multimedia with a broad experience in software development.

 

About COS Service Zones

“Build it, and they will come?” Now, there’s a better way to roll-out fiber-optics by beginning with committed customers. No more deploying from one end of town to the other only to chase customers after. Just follow these steps:

 

  1. Draw up multiple competing zones across your city or town.
  2. See demand build in real-time as customers signup using your branded website.
  3. Wait until target take-rate is reached before deploying to accelerate profitability.

 

Our mission: Subscriber-backed, successful fiber, with no more failed projects. COS Service Zones brings broadband to homes all across the globe. Let’s discover the demand in your community.

 

About COS Systems

COS SYSTEMS is a leading provider of software to plan, deploy and manage modern broadband networks that support services from one or more providers, using a powerful yet simple self-service interface. COS Systems takes customer needs and delivers innovative software solutions that streamline operations, accelerate revenue and deliver more satisfied subscribers. Learn more about COS Systems on www.cossystems.com.

 

For additional information, contact:

 

Jan Moeremans

Global Sales Director
Comsof
+32 9 275 31 00
jan.moeremans@fiberplanit.com
www.fiberplanit.com

 

Isak Finér
Chief Marketing Officer

COS Systems
+46 737 51 99 38
isak.finer@cossystems.com

www.cossystems.com

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