- SiFi Networks and Sumo Fiber execs talked about the challenges of operating and being connected to an open access network
- It's key to define the responsibilities of network operators and tenants
- The open access ISP market is becoming more saturated
Open access networks, where a number of internet service providers sell retail services over a shared infrastructure, are growing. And they're far from cut-and-dry.
David Burr, president of Sumo Fiber, spoke at a Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) webinar about his experience being on an open access network. Sumo is a Utah-based ISP and one of around 18 residential broadband providers on UTOPIA Fiber’s network.
Most open access networks don’t have contracts, he said, although that’s not always the case. So, “being able to switch providers without penalty is fantastic.” If a network goes down, ISPs “aren’t stuck” until it’s back up. They can “switch if [they] need to.”
As for competition, “there’s motivation between the ISPs to keep the networks at a high level of performance, because we’re all competing against each other.”
That competition extends beyond the open access network, too.
“When an open access network comes into a market, the Comcasts and Spectrums of the world have to lower their pricing to be competitive within [that] market,” Burr said.
It’s not all smooth sailing, however.
Drawing the line
Handling customer support is a challenge. George Templeman, president of network access partnerships at SiFi Networks, said it’s important to clearly define “who’s responsible for what.”
She said open access network operators should determine “where [they’re] handing off the network back to the service provider,” if they’re going to be involved in customer premises equipment (CPE) installation as well as how to go about system integration.
“Using other people’s networks at scale isn’t something you’re going to want to use a manual process for each time you want to provision a service,” Templeman said.
Say a customer is having Wi-Fi speed issues, Burr continued. That’s not really the network operator’s issue to deal with. But that changes if the optical network terminal (ONT) is down.
“You’ve got two different support infrastructures that you have to kind of manage,” he said.
Templeman said she thinks open access network operators “should be independent” and “not conflicting with the interests of the tenants that reside on that network.”
It's crowded here
Another challenge Burr highlighted is market saturation, using UTOPIA as an example. In addition to the 18 residential ISPs, UTOPIA has said it partners with “30-plus” business providers.
“Too many providers cause confusion,” he said. “It’s difficult distinguishing between everybody and then it also causes greater competition.”
That saturation can “drive pricing down too much.”
Burr said if ISPs want to stand out from the crowd, it’s important for them to have effective branding – and to not necessarily rely solely on the network operator to take care of the marketing.
“If the customer is driving to the open access network where they have a marketplace, they can see all of the different ISPs and they just choose one…is your brand strong enough? Did you do enough marketing so they recognize your logo?”
So, ISPs on an open access network have their work cut out for them. Nevertheless, Burr noted it’s still a good way for ISPs to extend their reach.
“You can go into an open access network and gain 50,000 or 100,000 [subscribers] instantly that you didn’t have to build to,” he added. “So it makes scalability easy.”