Business Challenge

One of the world's largest communications companies, with revenue exceeding $100 billion, introduced U-verse services to consumers, offering broadband Internet, IP telephone, and IPTV (U-verse TV). This program was initially presented in 21 states in the U.S. before expanding nationwide. Shortly after launch, the company began receiving customer complaints about poor reception quality or complete service outages. These issues were particularly prevalent in regions with harsh weather conditions, especially hot and humid environments. Despite efforts, the company was unable to identify the root cause of these problems.

Telecommunications Operations

U-verse utilized the Alcatel-Lucent 7330 or 7340 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) shelf, also called a video-ready access device (VRAD), deployed either in a central office (CO) or to a neighborhood serving area interface (SAI). The system also employed 2-Wire network interface devices (NIDs) that were demarcation points between the carrier's local loop and customer premises wiring.

Navigating the Technical Challenge

The company faced significant challenges in diagnosing equipment failures that were causing service disruptions. The inconsistent nature of the problems and their correlation with environmental conditions made troubleshooting particularly difficult. These technical issues threatened the entire U-verse rollout program, which costed $120M and was causing substantial customer dissatisfaction and churn.

The SENS Solution

The telecommunications company engaged Sensitel to identify problems with its installed U-verse devices. Suspecting weather conditions as the culprit, Sensitel installed humidity and temperature sensors on the VRADs and NIDs. The data collected was analyzed by SENS, revealing extreme heat and humidity conditions affecting the equipment. By overlaying TV transmission quality data from Cricket boxes with temperature and humidity signals, the company was able to correlate errors in picture transmission with hot spots in the NID device. The analysis revealed that when temperatures exceeded 140°F, the vertical position of circuits broke connection with the PCB, leading to a picture freeze. Sensitel SENS detected this correlation, enabling the company to address the issue and improve service quality. 

Business Results

With Sensitel's SENS solution, the telecommunications company achieved remarkable results:

  • Saved over $120 million by avoiding a pullback of the service rollout

  • Regained customer satisfaction and retained their customer install base, preventing mass churn

  • Successfully scaled the U-verse service from initial rollout locations in Dallas, TX and Las Altos, CA, to millions of customers nationwide

Data-Driven Decision Making

A key benefit of Sensitel's solution was the ability to use data analytics to identify the precise cause of service disruptions. By correlating environmental data with service quality metrics, the company gained unprecedented visibility into their equipment performance under various conditions, facilitating superior decision-making about equipment design and deployment strategies.