Broadstripe

Broadstripe, LLC.

Type	Private
Industry	Telecommunications
Founded	1998
Headquarters	13455 Noel Road, Suite 1310 Dallas, Texas 75240 U.S.A.
Key people	Gustavo Prilick, Chief Executive Officer Debra Woods, Chief Financial Officer Anthony Lent, Chief Commercial Officer Dave Harwood, Chief Operations Officer/General Manager Central Operations
Products	Cable television, Broadband internet, Home Phone
Net income	Not currently available
Website	http://www.broadstripe.com

Broadstripe is a telecommunications and cable provider headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Serving communities in Washington, Maryland, Oregon and Michigan, Broadstripe provides both residential and business customers with entertainment and communications products including digital cable, home phone and broadband internet services.

History

In 1998, John Brooks, co-founder of Brooks Fiber Media, along with former Charter Communications, Inc. executives Kelvin Westbrook, Jeffrey Sander and Charles Prayer, Jr. formed Millennium Digital Media (Millennium.) In September 2006, Millennium named Bill Shrefler, president and chief executive officer.^[1] Millennium officially changed its name to Broadstripe in October 2007.^[2] In November of that year, Broadstripe attempted to acquire James Cable LLC of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan for $125 million, the deal eventually fell through between the two companies. Since then, the cable provider has reorganized its leadership team, adding a number of telecommunications industry veterans, including its chief executive Gustavo Prilick in August 2008.^[3] According to an August 2009 article in the St. Louis Business Journal,^[4] Broadstripe spent nearly $20 million upgrading its network and overhauling customer care operations.

Services

Broadstripe serves approximately 100,000 customers across its service areas. They offer the following services:

• Digital Cable, which includes commercial-free music channels, Pay-Per-View movies and television shows, premium and High-Definition (HD) channels.

• Internet, offering two levels of service--a low speed "up to" 1 Mb/s and a higher speed version, claiming up to 15 Mb/s. They only guarantee 6Mb/s, however for their high-speed offering.

• VOIP Phone Service

They offer multiple "packages" of the above services, which can make it more difficult for users to determine their actual individual costs.

In February 2010, the company launched a 60-day, money-back guarantee program offering both new and existing residential customers 60 days to test new services from the cable provider’s offerings. According to the company, if the customer is not satisfied or has issues, Broadstripe will pay for the subscriber to restore service with their old provider.

Awards

Broadstripe was recognized by St. Louis Small Business Monthly in its July 2010 issue as one of 14 "Best Telecommunications Companies in the Business".^[5]

Organizational structure and client performance

The company is organized into three geographic regions: Mid-Atlantic (Regional Office: Millersville, Maryland), Central (regional office: Charlotte, Michigan), and Northwest (Regional Office: Tukwila, Washington).

The company has chosen to bypass Better Business Bureau accreditation in their Northwest region^[6].

In an undated survey performed for the city of Sammamish, Washington, respondents who used Comcast were significantly more satisfied with their service (as noted on page 31) than users of Broadstripe.^[7]

Executive team

• Gustavo Prilick, Chief Executive Officer
• Dave Harwood, Chief Operating Officer/General Manager of Central Operations
• Debra Wood, Chief Financial Officer
• Tony Lent, Chief Commercial Officer
• John Bjorn, Executive Vice President/Regional Manager Mid-Atlantic/Northwest Operations
• John McFerron, Executive Vice President - Customer Operations

Bankruptcy

On January 2, 2009, Broadstripe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in St. Louis, MO.^[8] Growing mostly via acquisition, efforts to increase margins were unsatisfactory due to increased competition from satellite providers, and two land-line based competitors in Maryland. In an effort to reduce debt, management attempted to sell parts of the company to competitors, but was unsuccessful.^[9]

The company has reported a $2.63 million net loss in September, 2010 on revenue of $7.68 million. Depreciation and amortization for the month totaled $2.2 million. Also, Broadstripe was authorized in October to adopt a bonus program for 12 executives that may cost as much as $446,000. To qualify, the cable system for which the employees work must be sold.^[10]

References

1. ^ http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2007/11/26/story3.html
2. ^ http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2007/10/01/daily13.html
3. ^ http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2008/08/25/daily104.html
4. ^ http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/08/10/daily63.html
5. ^ http://www.sbmon.com/BestinBusiness/tabid/175/Default.aspx
6. ^ http://www.bbb.org/western-washington/business-reviews/television-cable-catv-and-satellite/broadstripe-in-tukwila-wa-501555
7. ^ http://www.ci.sammamish.wa.us/files/document/5587.pdf
8. ^ http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2008/12/29/daily43.html
9. ^ Bankruptcy Court of Delaware, Chapter 11, Case No. 09-10006 (CSS)
10. ^ http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-03/boston-generating-fuddruckers-broadstripe-barzel-insight-bankruptcy.html

External links

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