Brantley Telephone

Nahunta, Georgia

BRANTLEY TELEPHONE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES  VIDEO SERVICES TO SUBSCRIBERS
After 2 ½ years of trying to emerge in the video business, Brantley Telephone chose Dascom to get their video services launched with paying customers in 7 months

“I can’t say enough good things about Dascom.  They are obvious professionals and know this business. They took a complicated system and made it simple and made it work. They taught our telephone company to be a cable provider and we are successfully doing just that.” – Michael Haney, Network Operations Supervisor

Background
Brantley Telephone could give a clinic on overcoming hurdles in IPTV.  In January 2008, the telephone company set timelines and began installation to deploy video to their subscribers. What happened to Brantley between then and November of 2010 was a series of industry changes and challenges, and a good run of bad luck. With the biggest influencers including SES Americom dropping out of the telecom business and Cisco ending life on ISDP middleware, Brantley did not give up on their video goals.  The shift toward Internet TV and the importance of local content were not going away.

Challenge
“We had been trying to launch video for a while. We needed someone with the technical knowledge to get our headend installation done right and the skills to teach us to be a cable provider,” said Robby Thomas, IPTV and Marketing Director.  “We decided to bring Dascom in because they know video.”

In December of 2010, Brantley chose Dascom Systems Group to evaluate the possibility of launching video.  “Dascom came right out and surveyed the setup. They showed us things we could do differently, and quickly demonstrated that they understood telephone companies and what we were trying to do,” said Michael Haney, Network Operations Supervisor. “I knew immediately that we were dealing with professionals. Dascom communicated on common ground in terms that made sense and went to work diagnosing and solving problems. We quickly realized Dascom was our partner, and not just a vendor.”

Solution
In the months that followed, Dascom took the data gathered from the site survey and consultation, and made recommendations, changes and corrections ranging from a full engineering re-design, integration with the network, and network monitoring services to continuously monitor and assure the long-term health of the system. Dascom also took into effect the new middleware selected by Brantley, and ensured the system elements worked together seamlessly.

“Dascom gave us a clean bill of health and all the tools we need to move forward successfully with our video service. They have an overall understanding of the network– not just the video component. They really have a handle on how we operate and were able to communicate complicated concepts very simply,” Haney said. “They corrected the installation and operation, and we were impressed with the Network Monitoring Service (NMS) that tracks down system problems and provides reports, data and quick repair.”

Results
In June of 2011, just 7 months later, Brantley Telephone conducted commercial launch of video services and promptly began installing services successfully and retaining paying customers. After more than three years on a journey to IPTV launch, Brantley sings praises of the working system. “The picture quality is excellent and we’re differentiating ourselves with local content in both SD and HD. We have local varsity sports and community events that other providers won’t have, and we are not experiencing the rain fade that happens with our primary satellite competitors,” Thomas said.

Brantley began beta testing in March of 2011, and successfully had their commercial launch June 1, 2011 to end their streak of bad luck in video deployment. They have been adding paying subscribers ever since. In September of 2011, they will ramp up their promotional campaign to coincide with high school football season and the buzz local sports generates in the community.