Time’s up. That’s the message new broadband challenger LiveOak Fiber has for AT&T and Lumen Technologies, as it sets its sights on delivering XGS-PON technology to parts of Florida and Georgia that executives say have been left behind for too long.
The company earlier this week announced it has secured $150 million in initial funding from InfraRed Capital Partners, a sum President Jody Craft told Fierce will allow it to reach approximately 75,000 locations by 2024. It is targeting two counties – Glynn County in Georgia and Okaloosa County in Florida – and is aiming to begin offering services there in early 2023. But beyond those, it sees a broader opportunity to serve the “vast areas, in our opinion, in the southeast that are underserved for modern bandwidth demands.”
According to Craft and LiveOak Chief Development Officer Rob Johnson, the company has its eye on areas where customers are currently stranded on DSL connections from incumbent providers. In LiveOak’s case, that means offerings from AT&T and Lumen’s CenturyLink brand. The idea though, is not just to offer a better, faster connection, but also a new customer experience complete with in-home mesh Wi-Fi and local support staff.
“There’s obviously no 10-gig or 2-gig offers in these areas, there’s not even gig offers in most of these areas,” Johnson said. “AT&T – and not to denigrate any other providers – but AT&T and the other providers, they have been there for years and they have had an opportunity to offer a higher level of service or a better in-home experience and they really haven’t.”
“We’ve been in the markets, we’ve talked to folks and there’s a lot of unhappiness with the incumbent provider. So, I think even if we were on parity with them that we would have the advantage,” he continued.
With funding now in hand, Craft said its path forward includes establishing its corporate presence in the areas it will be operating, staffing up for installation and support services, and conducting engineering and construction activities. All told, it’s looking to hire around 125 to 150 people by the end of next year. Craft added it’s partnering with large construction firms to get the actual build work done and doesn’t currently expect to be slowed significantly by supply chain issues.
In terms of the network itself, Johnson declined to spill its “secret sauce” but said it is working to eliminate active electronics and splice points so that it can provide “clean, unaltered fiber” to each location. It will be starting with XGS-PON technology network-wide and will have the ability to upgrade to either 25G or 40G via NG-PON2 if it so chooses.
For its top-tier service, pricing will be “less than $200, more than $100,” but Johnson added it will ensure an affordable tier is also made available to ensure everyone can access its services.
While some have dismissed the dozens of new challengers like LiveOak that have sprung up to build fiber, Craft said not all challengers are alike. One thing that sets LiveOak apart is the experience of its leadership team. Craft’s previous roles include stints at Telia, Deutsche Telekom and Ritter Communications, while Johnson’s includes roles at Nokia and Deutsche Telekom. Both most recently worked for telecom consulting firm Ronin Technology Advisors.
“There are many different kinds of flavors of startups that are happening now and I don’t think you can lump us all in together,” Craft concluded. “There are electrical co-ops that are forming startups every day, there are local IT outsourcers who are working on laptops one day and starting an ISP the next. We’re a team of telecom executives who are starting a new broadband provider and we have a plan that we believe in and markets we’re excited to build in.”