A note from our President on June 21st, 2019: I wrote this blog back in 2015 but as we continue to expand our network and make a larger impact in our fiber communities, I’m reminded that this message still holds true more than four years later. (I did update the specifics for today.) We chose these communities to make a difference. Part of changing the broadband ecosystem is building a competitive environment. We don’t run from aggressive marketing tactics, we welcome them.
Marketing versus Exceptional Service
During the past several weeks, one of our competitors has attempted to “re-brand and re-price” the residential services they provide to our local communities. With a variety of claims, several customers have spoken to me about this new marketing campaign. Whenever a new claim or campaign comes out, I simply call the company and ask for the details. In this version of spin, they claim to be low price and faster than all the others. So what is the reality and what has really changed?
Pricing Claims
I was able to determine that the new residential pricing by our competitors is much lower than that offered in non-ALLO communities or before ALLO launched our fiber service. Competition is great for all of us. The competitive reaction reminds me of the end of the days when DSL was trying to hang on. Lower the price and almost give away the service to make up for inferior technology and poor customer service.
Speed Claims
The cable company has a network with inherent speed limitations, however, they are faster than DSL. That’s not exactly breaking news, most current technologies are faster than DSL. I find it interesting that they focus on download speeds which are inconsistent during busy times and almost never talk about upload speeds and latency. ALLO’s symmetric internet speeds (equivalent download and upload) and responsive dependable fiber connections provide the best internet experience available in each of our communities. Yes, cable has made their old network a little better. This company advertises a best efforts 400Mbps download and in the small print indicates 15Mbps upload which, granted, is faster than they used to offer. ALLO’s standard service is 500 Mbps download and 500 Mbps upload on FIBER. This is a fairly priced service with almost 20x faster upload speed and customers consistently receive the stated download speed. Additionally, ALLO offers speeds of 1 gigabit download and upload. The internet quality focus is quickly switching to upload speeds and latency, especially for video calls, cloud storage, gaming, and smart home services. ALLO includes a Blast Wi-Fi 6 enabled router in all of our installations. Why? Because this router provides a consistent wireless customer experience, connects 250+ devices, and provides diagnostics that report when customers are experiencing issues. ALLO includes this level of service to all of our customers and it’s INCLUDED in our standard price. Simply put, no matter how you market it, ALLO’s fiber is faster than their cable network. Fiber delivers a more consistent and dependable service. There are reasons that communities across the nation are competing to get all-fiber gigabit networks like ALLO provides; fiber is superior to other networks for today’s as well as tomorrow’s uses.
New Price, New Name – Same Service
Finally, the competing communications companies in our area are among the lowest ranked in customer satisfaction comparing across all industries. With these poor rankings, how do they change the perception rather than fixing the service issues? It appears the easiest way is to create a limited time gimmick. We are currently celebrating our 16th year of providing fiber service and all with the same name and reputation for honest, straightforward pricing, that’s the ALLO way. In that time, other companies have gone through several name changes, expensive rebrandings, bankruptcies, and have marketed each new name as a great change in service and capabilities. ALLO will not be changing our name because we are extremely proud of the reputation we have built in our communities.
ALLO – Consistent Service and Pricing
At ALLO, we have four values that provide the direction for our business and hardworking crew:
- Local – Be a part of and support our communities.
- Honesto – Tell the truth to customers in conversations and marketing. At ALLO, we don’t hide behind the fine print or make claims that are misleading. ALLO does not use a “teaser rate” to get people to switch to our service and then have huge increases. Always fair pricing is our style.
- Hassle Free – ALLO works hard to make it easy to do business with us. We make it easy to switch, we make it easy to call us and get a local person, we make it easy to answer your questions and get advice. We set out to eliminate the difficulty of technology and corporate rules.
- Excepcional – Last but not least, ALLO strives to be exceptional in all we do. An all-fiber network, modern telephone service, outstanding television interface, and friendly customer service combine for an exceptional experience.
In the end, ALLO is providing our customers a superior product at a fair price. No marketing tricks or confusion, just simply exceptional service over our products. I know that our customers understand and appreciate the ALLO all-fiber difference, not just today but for the foreseeable future.
Brad Moline, ALLO President
