Description: Once you have a broadband service provider willing to partner with you, what next? How involved are they in your program? What data, particularly program participant information flows between you and the service provider? Share your joys and your challenges to help us all return home with new ideas for our partnerships with broadband service providers. Remember what ideas are shared by making your notes on this wiki page!
Time: Tuesday 9:45-10:45
Location: State Room
Facilitator: Cindy Menz-Erb, Computers for Youth NYC
Partnering with Service Providers.pdf
Notes:
- CFY and NYC Government is providing any BTOP funding for the subsidy deals it has reached for Time Warner Cable and Cablevision.
- Eligibility requirements a significant challenge for NYC. Significant operational challenges for CFY in NYC.
- Cindy breaks down the work flow for the families CFY serves in the Connected Learning program:
1. Intake at a CFY Saturday Family Workshop
2. Family inputs their information into a database which determines whether the family is served by Time Warner Cable or Cablevision
3. Family's information sent to the appropriate service provider
4. Service provider receives the data and assessing eligibility for service
5. CFY / Service Provider works together to reach out to eligible families to set-up an installation date if the family is interested in receiving service. CFY reaches out to the family in their native language if other than English. CFY goes over the value of broadband service and why it's important. CFY uses the Family's school name with a focus to personalize the experience and mitigate concerns that the cable service is some sort of 'sales trap.'
- Approximately 50% of the families CFY serves do not have broadband at the time of the Workshop. Of those families, roughly 78% of families are adopting broadband after the Workshop. For Year 1, CFY assesses that approximately 3500 families have adopted broadband because of the Connected Learning program and CFY's service.
- Cindy: "There are massive efforts to reach these families by CFY and the cable providers. The population we are working with are very difficult to contact and connect with."
I blogged about this presentation at somewhereonthebridge.wordpress.com
Comments (3)
fwhitfield@... said
at 10:58 am on Jun 28, 2011
@CYC Frank
Cindy Computers for youth - New york city connected learning - Do itt - works with public schools - 75% free or reduced lunch - 9,000 families served - Comcast deal benefits families with children - improve academic success - every student receives a free learning center - 3.5 hour training - not focus on dig liter - empower parents to help children in aca success - 2 year swap out for damaged computers - tech intern provided to school - myhomelearning.com - participants receive discounted rates - 2 partnerships Cable vision Time Warner (main providers) - verizon smaller player
Did an RFP (request for proposal) to all the providers - TW and CV were most responsive - Verizon deal wasn’t attractive - willing to talk because grant was to NY from the agency that governs the Cable Companies -
Motivation of Providers? C: two sides 1) altruistic - people really cared -cable vision did a program before in the city - individually: great to work with 2) City agency has alot of power of cable industry: large project with press opportunity for companies - long history because the city has been working on this for years
Deals TW 1.5 MB Down 512 Up - Free first year, 10 second, next two 15, last 2 20
Check Wiki for deals and eligibility details
Eligibility - can’t currently have service with TW or any debt over $300 or more (forgive any debt under $300)
fwhitfield@... said
at 11:00 am on Jun 28, 2011
@CYC Frank
CV couldn’t have service with them for the past year, No debt within last three years with them - not valid with any other promotions
Project gave the cable company NO money for subsidies
Spent majority of the year existing getting participants through program
Now focusing on operating the SBA process
Online form filled out - verify people are involved in program - and check eligibility each family has an ID number that confirms their eligibility - they put in their address
ID number first, then address (is this a valid address), assesses which ISP should get the information, if family is not verified they got into a separate portal and the problem solved,
shared portal with cable providers
trained staff of the cable company to use this portal
beginning were using excel but families were getting lost and needed to share data that could be tracked
contracted out to create the portals
with TW they can be verified with two addresses (current and previous) - not checking credit just want to know if they owe them $ - not worried about outside debt
Not collecting SSN - as long as they can verify that they don’t owe them money
This KNOCKS OUT 80% OF PEOPLE - BECAUSE THEY OWE THE COMPANY
Call the family once eligible once or twice but they couldn’t get in touch and stopped calling
solution: created their own phone bank
ISP calls family grandma answers, thinks it solicitation and hangs up,
if they’re eligible someone from their phone bank calls them, explains discount, explain value of Broadband, then they conference them back to the provider, stay on phone with both parties and help problem solve, select, and schedule,
check back with the family and make sure they got connected
Footprint to decide which ISP: Created by Project (project did the problem solving, mapping, and the majority of the work.
fwhitfield@... said
at 11:01 am on Jun 28, 2011
@CYC Frank
rejects find a connection with Verizon
certification - self assessed through phone call - verbal confirmation
Program 2 in August doing laptops with older students
is TW speed lower than NTAA
FCC 768K speed has been acceptable as broadband -
ISP can't contact project and let people know -
they can be eligible for the program and have cable
Sounds nuts that all the work went into the getting the discount and very few are using the discount
issues eligibility
dealing with people
They call families once a week to get connected -
Are the cable companies seeing you as marketers or bothersome
difference between entity and people we work with
Broadband manager - talks to ISPs two to three times a week
ISPs trying to make this more streamline - They’re promoting program -
Rural florida working with cable and other ISPs - not alot of competition - whenever an arrangement has been tried to work out - its been extremely difficult - “used all the good arguments”
C: NY providers aren’t competing
Rural economic challenge zones
NY: adoption rates high outside of discount
push relevance - majority of families are adopting (HIGH Adoption rate),
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