Ting, a Sprint (NYSE: S) mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) partner, is building its own 1 Gbps fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) by purchasing Charlottesville, Va.-based Blue Ridge InternetWorks (BRI).
Initially, the focus will be on bringing services to customers in the Charlottesville market. According to a Washington Post report, Ting will provide 1 Gbps service for about $100 a month, and expects to hook up around 12,000 homes in Charlottesville beginning in the first quarter of next year.
In a blog post, Ting said that it wants to appeal to local customers by applying the same level of customer service in Charlottesville that it had done in delivering its wireless service.
“In short, BRI and Ting are beautifully aligned: We both believe in a hands-off approach to the Internet at large and a hands-on approach to customer service,” wrote Andrew Moore-Crispin, senior content manager at Ting. “Together, we think we can bring home Internet subscribers in Charlottesville the sort of shockingly human experience and fair, honest pricing that our mobile phone subscribers have appreciated so much these past couple of years (love you guys).”
Continue Reading
About Mark Milliman
Mark Milliman is a Principal Consultant at Inphotonics Research driving the adoption and assisting local governments to plan, build, operate, and lease access open-access municipal broadband networks. Additionally, he works with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to increase the value of their intellectual capital through the creation of strategic product plans and execution of innovative marketing strategies. With more than 22 years of experience in the telecommunications industry that began at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Mark has built fiber, cable, and wireless networks around the world to deliver voice, video, and data services. His thorough knowledge of all aspects of service delivery from content creation to the design, operation, and management of the network is utilized by carriers and equipment manufacturers. Mark conceived and developed one of the industry's first multi-service provisioning platform and is multiple patent holder. He is active in the IEEE as a senior member. Mark received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
