Hybrid Holiday Shopping
[San Juan Silver Stage | December 2020 | Kathryn R. Burke]
Interview with Becky Mashburn, Communications and Marketing Manager at Elevate Internet & DMEA.
KRB: Due to Covid & Isolation, there will be a lot more online holiday shopping this year.
BM: Online shopping will most certainly increase this year and we’ll be ready to support all our customers growing bandwidth needs, but what we really hope is this: Before you hit up Amazon, please shop local. Spend your dollars at downtown shops, local boutiques, and corner stores. The businesses that breathe life into our communities need your support. We’re proud to be counted among these local businesses and we are doubly proud to support the internet needs of those who have chosen Elevate.
KRB: Regardless of the shoppers choice, from combo of Amazon, other online outlets, and local stores, there will be a lot more Internet traffic because of holiday shopping. Will this make a difference in your service?
BM: It won’t make a difference on our side, but having Elevate Internet will make a difference for consumers. Speed and reliability aside—two very important benefits of fiber—another reason fiber internet is better is that it doesn’t bog down during times of high use. Fiber (short for fiber optic) uses light to transmit information so traffic literally flows at the speed of light on our network. So, after work when everyone is home and families are streaming music, doing homework, streaming TV shows, or say, holiday shopping, no internet network performs better or faster than ours.
Fiber is also the only technology that offers symmetrical internet speeds. Most people don’t realize that their internet speed includes a download speed and an upload speed. Non-fiber networks, like copper cable, can’t do this and consumers may experience a 35 Mbps download with a 10 Mbps upload. In contrast, Elevate customers get the same fast speed for both.
The upload speed is especially important for activities like video chatting with family during the holidays, emailing photos or videos of the kids opening their gifts to relatives, playing online multiplayer games, and for at-home-workers uploading files to their office servers or the cloud.
KRB: How will you handle the extra load?
BM: Our network is built for maximum use and, as a new technology, can grow with bandwidth needs. Unlike most of our competitors, we don’t oversubscribe our services, rather we built a system designed for growth.
KRB: Will increased traffic decrease download/upload or access times?
BM: No, not on our end. However, consumers will need to be aware of their in-home limitations. For example, if a customer is using the wireless (Wi-Fi) network throughout their home, they may lose sight of how many devices are sharing connections to the home network. It’s worth noting that you’ll always get the fastest speeds by hardwiring into your modem/router. For example, a customer subscribed to our fastest service (1 Gig) can’t get true 1,000 Mbps speed over a wireless connection. Simply because, that speed can’t be broadcast over Wi-Fi yet. Right now, Wi-Fi speeds max out at 500 Mbps (if the device being used is capable). But, good news, both devices and Wi-Fi capabilities are getting faster every day. A good general rule of thumb is the older the device, the bigger the speed limitations.
What often happens for consumers over the holidays is they add more and more internet-connected devices to their home, but don’t opt to subscribe to a faster internet package. For Christmas, dad gets a Ring Doorbell, mom gets an Amazon Alexa, your teen a new gaming system, and your middle schooler her first tablet. Overnight, a family might double or triple their devices and bandwidth needs and they often don’t think about needing to increase their internet speed. Our 1,000 Mpbs (1 Gig) is the best option for ensuring families with device-overload don’t overload their bandwidth.
KRB: Will it affect entertainment or educational program “streaming”?
BM: Nope.
KRB: Will it “knock people off” the Internet, force them to “reboot” their modems?
BM: Nope.
KRB: What kind of “on-call” response will (or do) you have to answer questions, help people navigate the increasing complex information highway?
BM: We have 24/7/365 support which can be reached by calling our normal phone at 844-386-8744. During normal business hours, our goal is to live answer every call because we hate robo-phone systems just as much as consumers do. During non-business hours, consumers will reach an automated greeting and just need to follow a short prompt to reach live tech support.
KRB: What is the wait time for help, and is it 24/7, 7 days a week, or during certain days and times?
BM: Barring an extreme situation, for example, if a car were to crash into one of our communication buildings, tech support is readily accessible 24/7/365 with wait times typically maxing out at only a few minutes. In the event something large scale happens, like above, wait times will obviously increase due to volume.

Local shoe manufacturer, also sells product wholesale and retail thanks to Elevate.
Photo courtesy of Rachael DeRossi
KRB: Have you done anything special to prepare for the anticipated increase in consumer usage?
BM: There was nothing we needed to do. Our network is designed for big bandwidth and everything on our network travels at the speed of light.
KRB: Have you considered some kind of “digital training” for home users (buyers/shoppers)?
BM: Yes, we have discussed options for tech talks and trainings, but due to limited time and manpower, they aren’t something we can offer at this time. We do frequently publish technology blogs and share them on our digital channels. You can read our blog here: https://www.elevateinternet.com/elevate-blog.
KRB: Training for business owners? Suggestions for helping local businesses stay competitive? Maybe a podcast or webinar?
BM: These are all wonderful ideas. We have definitely discussed a few of them, but again, like above we do not have the resources to successfully deliver them yet. Like with the technology questions above, we have been able to help our local businesses gain some additional exposure through our blog. We regularly highlight businesses that have chosen Elevate to be their internet provider with a feature story on our blog, ensuring back links from our site to theirs, social sharing, and sometimes in print in our newsletter. You can read our blog here: https://www.elevateinternet.com/elevate-blog.
KRB: Are you working with any local community organizations to address helping local businesses, and what is your involvement?
BM: Yes, several different ones.
DART – We often send a representative to attend these meetings along with our local economic development organizations. We have appointments on both the MEDC. Montrose Economic Development Corporation and One Delta County, and most recently were included in the Delta County prospectus.
The new Montrose Chamber of Commerce – DMEA is participating on the board but Elevate has not yet joined. We are however members of all other Chambers within our footprint.
Montrose Community Foundation – Not at this time.
Service Clubs – Elevate supports numerous local civic organizations, non-profits, youth programs, and local events every year. In 2019, we donated more than $20,000 to various organizations throughout Montrose and Delta Counties.
City or County offices – The best example I can provide regarding partnerships with local government is our partnership with the City of Montrose. Through that relationship, we were able to section off 97% of the Montrose City limits and move those areas forward in the construction process. We began building in these areas, called subzones, this year, and should be complete by spring 2020.
Region 10 – We are working with Region 10 to improve telecommunications infrastructure in Western Colorado, which ultimately enables municipal networks, anchor institutions, and even our competitors to provide better internet service solutions to the end consumer.
KRB: Do you have any other comments regarding Hybrid Holiday Shopping?
BM: We’re proud to be counted among the local businesses that breathe life into our communities, and we are doubly proud to support the internet needs of those who have chosen Elevate.
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