An ever-present fact in the business of providing new broadband services is the need to increase the number of subscribers. This is typically done through some type of installation process that, depending on the type of service, may include activities such as wiring, configuration, and/or provisioning. The size and scope of these activities depends on how well the service was designed and built. Many broadband services require as little as a simple activation, whereas others require much more including skilled labor. The initial installation of broadband data services requires all three activities as well as skilled labor. However, the dependency on manual intervention with each installation has slowed the ramp up in the number of subscribers.

Seeking efficiencies becomes paramount when rolling out new services. New services create growth in subscriber installation/activation and require coordinated efforts between marketing, sales, and field fulfillment groups to more rapidly place these services in the hands of subscribers. Without efficiencies, growth of subscribers and profitability in the new services is slow to develop. Out of this need grew something known as "auto-provisioning". The concept was simple; create a way to automatically activate/enroll subscribers on broadband the way the dialup industry does it. However, this simple way turned out to not completely work in practice and thus auto-provisioning has now branched off into a number of different installation options for broadband operators - each installation option requiring a varying degree of broadband operator involvement. As a result, a whole spectrum of installation options has evolved for prospective subscribers ranging from totally subscriber driven installs (known as self-install) to the traditional broadband employee driven installs. The most popular of these installation options are compared in Table 1.0.

While the need to bring on subscribers quickly and painlessly is a worthwhile goal, complications still exist that prevent these methods from making appreciable impact to a broadband operator's annual installation rates. Some of these complications include:

· Constantly Changing Requirements-Broadband operators regularly change their minimum requirements for service to keep up with changes/improvements in technology. As a result, subscribers with CPEs as little as a couple years old do not qualify for some services-e.g. memory and/or disk upgrades are needed to join certain services.
· Lack of Broadband Ready CPEs-Subscribers often face varying challenges when activating a service that requires that any type of additional hardware be added to their system (especially anything that requires its enclosure to be cracked open). Installing the hardware may only be half the challenge as conflicts with existing hardware can make configuring the new hardware on the CPE an extremely complex experience - professional help is sometimes needed in these cases. Use of USB adapters are providing some relief to this problem.
· Availability-Broadband operators still are not able to offer their services to all their subscribers. Whether it is an area that is not yet upgraded or too distant from the place where the service originates, the availability of service does not cover 100% of the broadband operator's territory. As a result, there are complications where potential subscribers want the service but can't yet receive it or are asked to join a waiting list.
· Accessibility-Broadband operators attempting to wire each residence for broadband face several unknowns. Since wiring in residences can range from connecting a simple jumper from the outlet to the broadband service hardware (modem, service unit, etc.) to completely redoing the residence wiring up to the tap, drop, or demark - this can add significant time to an install. Also, depending on the building location, building code, and signal level, some areas in the residence may not serviceable. Older Multiple Dwelling Units (MDU) builders for example often used the cheapest cable they could buy-this creates problems for services that are dependent on quality signals/levels.

Successfully negotiating these complications has become a priority of broadband operators who are exploring a number of new products on the market that attempt to speed and automate installations. However, a majority of the new products on the market have elected to address only certain aspects of the installation process-few take the approach of trying to speed the installation as a whole or address multiple installation methods. As a result, the benefit from these products is minimized by the additional need to glue all these systems together to benefit only a single installation option. Broadband operators can substantially increase (between 20-40%) their installation capability by increasing the number of installation options discussed in Table 1.0. Augmenting their employee driven efforts to install new subscribers, offers them new ways to increase subscriber growth without hiring more employees.

About the Author

Bruce Bahlmann is Director of Technical Market Development for Alopa Networks (www.alopa.com), contributing editor to Communications Technology, and owner of the broadband technical information site Birds-Eye (www.birds-eye.net). Prior to working for Alopa, Bahlmann worked for Continental Cablevision, MediaOne, and AT&T Broadband where he spearheaded a number of engineering efforts including autoprovisioning, self-provisioning, troubleshooting and leads tracking, and building the companies' initial legacy & DOCSIS provisioning systems (much of which are still in use). A product of the state of Iowa, Bahlmann is a proud graduate of Iowa State University and avid fishermen. He lives in White Bear Lake, MN with his wife and two children. The author may be contact with questions or comments via email at bruce@alopa.com