When Brightspeed completed the purchase of Lumen‘s ILEC assets in 20 states last month, it gained a large number of CenturyLink subscribers. However, retaining those subscribers is proving to be difficult, despite the fact that Brightspeed CMO Courtland Madock claimed the business is more than eager to accept the task.
Customers have been criticising the business on social media over the previous few weeks. For instance, a quick search on Twitter reveals complaints about everything from sporadic internet during a downpour to technicians who missed installation appointments. Despite declining to address specific complaints, Madock claimed that the operator was well aware of the “varied” responses that customers had to the brand’s introduction.
She recommended the network-oriented expectations Brightspeed intended to set for its debut. The operator is planning to deploy fibre to more than 1 million locations by the end of 2023 and ultimately reach about half of the households in its footprint with fibre over the next five years. But the vast majority of the footprint it acquired is still served by copper.
“We have the same infrastructure in place that we had on day one and that has not changed,” she said. “Nothing is a quick fix in telecom.”
Added Madock Brightspeed is still evaluating the state of the plants along the network to determine where it can and needs to make enhancements. The operator is doing root cause analysis as client feedback comes in to help with its review. So it truly wants to hear from customers, she added.
According to Madock, it is also attempting to enhance the quality of its client service. She reaffirmed that the business promptly hired 35% more customer care representatives, a step that, according to Madock, has allowed Brightspeed to respond to consumer calls two times more quickly. In addition, fewer regulatory complaints have been filed against the company, according to Madock, but he stressed that it is still too early to determine whether this represents a lasting trend.
Bright speed is also recruiting to increase its roster of field technicians by 10% to help it more reliably keep appointments with customers. It’s about halfway to its goal, Madock said.
While fiber is its headline ambition, Madock said Brightspeed knows it needs to stabilize existing services as it builds the new PON network. As it progresses, it will “aggressively monitor the customer experience” she said.
“As somebody in marketing and sales, I don’t expect my consumers to understand how our business works. I just expect them to want a great product and expect that I will deliver it,” Madock concluded. “We’re making sure that we’re sharing with them that it’s an evolution, it’s going to take time, but that we’re here to listen, that we want their feedback and we’re going to make it as easy as possible for them to contact us to get us the information we need so we can help to serve them better.”
Added Madock Brightspeed is still evaluating the state of the plants along the network to determine where it can and needs to make enhancements. The operator is doing root cause analysis as client feedback comes in to help with its review. So it truly wants to hear from customers, she added.
According to Madock, it is also attempting to enhance the quality of its client service. She reaffirmed that the business promptly hired 35% more customer care representatives, a step that, according to Madock, has allowed Brightspeed to respond to consumer calls two times more quickly. In addition, fewer regulatory complaints have been filed against the company, according to Madock, but he stressed that it is still too early to determine whether this represents a lasting trend.
Bright speed is also recruiting to increase its roster of field technicians by 10% to help it more reliably keep appointments with customers. It’s about halfway to its goal, Madock said.
While fiber is its headline ambition, Madock said Brightspeed knows it needs to stabilize existing services as it builds the new PON network. As it progresses, it will “aggressively monitor the customer experience” she said.
“As somebody in marketing and sales, I don’t expect my consumers to understand how our business works. I expect them to want a great product and expect that I will deliver it,” Madock concluded. “We’re making sure that we’re sharing with them that it’s an evolution, it’s going to take time, but that we’re here to listen, that we want their feedback and we’re going to make it as easy as possible for them to contact us to get us the information we need so we can help to serve them better.”