complete certain segments of the build get paid more quickly because all the invoicing is triggered electronically, as well. He explains that the information gathered also helps Brightspeed secure funding. “In North Carolina, for example, we received $90million in grant funding, which sounds like a lot of money but when you are
building infrastructure it is not,” says Tom. “The reason we're able to do this innovation is because when we took over this particular territory, it didn't have a lot of fibre; we were effectively starting from scratch. That allows us to do things differently and it's actually a strength of our business.”
HONOURING THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE The spirit of service is still an important ethos for the people who work for Brightspeed. Tom is quick to bring up the name of Angus MacDonald, the legendary US lineman who epitomised employee devotion to maintaining telephone connectivity during the snowstorms of 1888. Tom also points out that Angus would not have the snowshoes, flashlight, rope and equipment to get his job done without procurement teams, and that fact has not changed. “It’s the people in Brenda’s side of the business
that enable us to carry on,” he says, adding, “I was talking to somebody in the wireless world one day and he mentioned a big storm was coming and that everybody in his wireless business was going to work from home thanks to technology and connectivity. And I said, ‘Yeah, well, we'll be out there making sure your connectivity works,’ and sure enough, despite weather issues, the next day our team all showed up for work.”
For further information on Brightspeed, visit www.brightspeed.com 19