• November 9, 2018

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The Customer

Green Mountain Power delivers clean, cost-effective, reliable power in Vermont and was the first utility company in the world to earn a B Corp Certification for their responsible business practices. They utilize integrated energy services to reduce energy use and cut down costs for their customers.

The Challenge

Green Mountain Power has district offices across the state, employing more than 500 people. Cellular service in their area is provided by two national carriers. Employees and contractors required constant connectivity via the cellular network when travelling between the 16 district offices locations. Critical system alerts are emailed to employee devices and a lack of connectivity hindered delivery of these notifications. Green Mountain Power’s expanding mobile device users and bandwidth demands made it crucial to have a reliable corporate network connectivity option to supplement the existing Wi-Fi system. Additionally, their structures were mostly heavy concrete which blocked external signals and left employees relying on Wi-Fi while indoors. This limitation put their access at risk during storms or other interruptions, creating the need for full cellular coverage in all of their buildings.

The Solution

Tessco began working with Green Mountain Power in 2014. After an assessment of Green Mountain’s needs and their existing ecosystem, Tessco’s Solutions Architects provided a design solution utilizing the CommScope Node A System, which met the needs of Green Mountain’s initial build. Green Mountain Power was able to have their new network up and running in under a month by partnering with Tessco and acquired training for their new system via Tessco as well. Within a week of completion of the first build, Green Mountain was already working with Tessco’s sales team, Solutions Architect, and Design Engineers on their next site. The success of the first deployment led to Green Mountain Power’s management team deciding every office needed to have enhanced cellular connectivity and coverage. Over the two years that followed Tessco completed 16 passive DAS designs for Green Mountain Power utilizing the CommScope Node A product. Currently, Green Mountain is making plans to partner with Tessco on system design and product selection for enhancing cellular coverage at their 200 substation locations and other remote sites where they expect similar success.

Why Tessco Proved to be the Best Choice

Tessco’s commitment to providing a single source for end-to-end solutions allowed them to work with Green Mountain Power every step of the way to ensure a successful installation. Tessco’s financing options helped Green Mountain access the capital needed for their initial install, and Tessco’s experts in solutions architecture and network design verified the CommScope Node A as the ideal solution for Green Mountain because of its versatility and scalability. With our deep product portfolio, Tessco was able to deliver backup parts for maintenance cost-effectively and provide contractor training via our comprehensive educational and certification portfolio.

Once the first CommScope Node A system was installed and Green Mountain identified the need for additional installations, Tessco’s experts were able to quickly and easily replicate the network at each location, giving Green Mountain Power a streamlined and standardized network across their locations that allowed for fast carrier approvals and simplified maintenance thanks to the familiarity of each system. The scope of the project allowed Tessco to demonstrate their dedication to their loyal customers, recognizing Green Mountain Power’s longstanding relationship and going above and beyond to make sure their network needs were met and any concerns were addressed with attentive customer care.

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The Results

Green Mountain Power was able to upgrade the connectivity at 16 of their locations and counting by partnering with Tessco. This has allowed employees to remain connected wherever they go, improving their efficiency and upgrading their responsiveness to better serve their customers. Constant connectivity allows critical system alerts to be delivered to employee devices in real time for faster resolution, and their DAS system provides the increased reliability a utility company needs to ensure they are able to address issues during storms and emergencies. Green Mountain Power has been so satisfied with their installations that they are continuing to work with Tessco on expanding their networks, and installing similar systems at more of their remote locations.

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