ISE Magazine, December 2018

DECEMBER 2018 WWW ISEMAG COM 21 EXECUTIVE Q A TOPIC The Future Sharon Vollman ISE How do you see the ICT industry changing in the next 2 5 years Bill McKell Horizon I believe in the next 2 5 years we will see significant investment in extending fiber services to both commercial and residential customers followed almost immediately by more consolidation Several years ago everyone in the industry was predicting that significant consolidation among fiber providers would be occurring now as larger operators bought up smaller regional operators Weve seen a little bit of that but not what the metro fiber industry expected What the market failed to fully understand was that the need for fiber bandwidth was still exploding This explosive need caused two things to change the market First the large operators were overwhelmed with their own efforts to meet demand in the markets they already served and to integrate the acquisitions they had already made Second private equity investors recognized the growth opportunity this demand created for regional providers This meant that more regional providers were acquired by equity providers than by larger operators Now those regional providers have the opportunity to meet bandwidth demand by extending their own networks deeper into their own regions both by growth and by consolidating isolated local assets and operations The industry consolidation of larger operators buying smaller operators will still come but not until the regional providers have filled in the holes in their regions where fiber based bandwidth is still in demand TOPIC Change For the last 123 years Horizon has been providing telecom services to Southern Ohio Founded in 1895 as the Home Telephone Company the organization has grown to deliver voice video security and broadband to its 14000 residential and business customers Recently Horizon has been acquired by the Canadian private equity firm Novacap ISE How will that change things for you your team and also create network transformation opportunities B McKell Our mission is clear partner with our customers to provide them a high reliability network for their data transport needs that offers peace of mind and reflects our Good Neighbor core values In some cases that may mean bringing fiber to customers who dont have access to it today In other cases that may mean providing fiber based alternatives to customers who have a need that cant be met by existing providers For example those of us building networks from scratch have the opportunity to make sure fiber counts meet the bandwidth needs of a 5G and beyond world and to make sure the necessary redundancy is in place for the essential services of today and tomorrow TOPIC Network Challenges ISE What is the greatest challenge Horizon faces in terms of its network and the people making it work effectively B McKell How to grow prudently We have so many opportunities in front of us that we have to decide wisely By Sharon Vollman Horizon with headquarters in Columbus and Chillicothe Ohio is a premier provider of advanced broadband services throughout much of Ohio and into surrounding states Utilizing its extensive network of fiber optic cable Horizon delivers advanced high speed data services Internet voice digital video and security and monitoring services Horizons entrepreneurial heritage and long standing commitment to remarkable customer care ensures a partnering relationship with its customers using cutting edge technology