CEMC a Tennessee-based electric co-op that was founded in 1938 has now formed Cumberland Connect, a wholly-owned non-profit subsidiary of CEMC that is dedicated to bringing their membership cutting edge internet, phone, and streaming services.
Louis Jones, a Fiber Design Engineer for Cumberland Connect, gave us some insight into how and why they got started with VETRO and how they use it. Read more below!
Five Questions with Cumberland Connect
1. How did Cumberland Connect get into the fiber business?
Cumberland Connect, the broadband subsidiary of Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation (CEMC), entered the broadband industry in response to 2017 regulatory changes that permitted electric cooperatives to offer broadband services in Tennessee. Acknowledging the lack of high-speed internet access within our service region, CEMC conducted a comprehensive feasibility study, established vital strategic collaborations, and committed to addressing the connectivity needs of our members. Over time, we systematically have and continue to extend our fiber network to narrow the digital divide, all in pursuit of our core mission: enhancing the quality of life for our members.
2. Tell us what’s new at Cumberland Connect – what’s next?
Cumberland Connect is experiencing rapid growth and is sustained by a combination of new and existing CEMC team members, including Network Operations, Outside Plant, Marketing, Sales, Customer Experience, and Engineering. The expansion strengthens our capabilities daily. Also, we’ve recently initiated our first significant network upgrade, enabling us to offer multi-gig services across a large portion of Northern Middle Tennessee. Each upgrade enhances speed, capacity, and reliability, marking the realization of long-planned network initiatives.
3. What plans/projects did you have in motion when you started shopping for fiber management software?
We were working on a full build out of the entire Cumberland Electric service territory (around 120,000 homes).
4. Why did you choose VETRO?
It was like having a turn key solution to the issue that we faced shortly after we started mainline build out. We have a lot of growth in our area and needed a design program that could be easily modified to accommodate for the new homes in areas that had been previously completed with fiber build out.
"VETRO FiberMap was like having a turn key solution to the issue that we faced shortly after we started mainline build out."
5. What is your favorite feature of VETRO FiberMap?
I have two favorite features of VETRO: the ease of design, and the ability to extract data (fiber count /cable length ex).
About VETRO, Inc.
VETRO builds software that makes it radically simpler and faster for broadband providers to plan, design, deploy, and operate their fiber optic networks. Our map-based SaaS platform is easier to use and more powerful than traditional tools, and enables network owners, operators and sponsors to benefit from a modern, integrated, and connected digital hub for their physical network assets.
