On the road: Inside Mountain Connect 2024 (Part 1)

On this episode of Connected Nation, we begin our coverage from Mountain Connect, a broadband conference that is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The theme this year is "Beyond the bandwidth, the power of broadband revolutionizing access."

We begin by answering a simple the question - what does a small ISP do if it needs big equipment? Plus, find out why having a strong broadband resume is more important now than ever before.

Related links:
Mountain Connect
ABS Rents
KLJ Engineering & Planning

Mountain Connect 2024 series
Opening episode
The Internet Equity Initiative and connecting the most remote, inhabited island in Michigan
The high-tech (and dangerous) broadband job that some say needs regulation now
Nokia's Network in a Box and the one thing most people get wrong about the company
Key partnerships, digital equity, and the Illinois Broadband Lab
BEAM's leadership on broadband expansion and accessibility across Mississippi
How BroadbandOhio is navigating BEAD

Chapters

• 1:13 What is ABS Rents?
• 2:52 What and why does ABS rent?
• 5:54 Why is it important to have good internet connection?
• 7:50 What is KLJ Engineering
• 13:16 Steve Valdez, Business Development for Telecom a KLJ background
• 14:37 What does Steve love about the telecomm industry?

Transcript

Jessica Denson (00:05):
On this episode of Connected Nation, we begin our coverage from Mountain Connect, a broadband conference that is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The theme this year, beyond the bandwidth, the power of broadband revolutionizing access. We begin by asking a question, what does a small ISP do if it needs big equipment? I found the answer. Plus find out why having a strong broadband resume is more important now than ever before. I'm Jessica Denson, and this is Connected Nation. I'm at Mountain Connect, it's celebrating its 10th anniversary. It is in the heart of Denver, Colorado, downtown, and I have run into an Alicia Vasquez and Amber Romero. Hello ladies.

Analicia Vaquez, Marketing Specialist at ABS Rents (00:53):
Hi. How's it going?

Amber Romero, ABS Rents(00:55):
Good morning.

Jessica Denson (00:56):
Thank you for joining me. You two are my first interviews. You are like a light of sunshine walking through here, everybody saying hi to everyone. Let's begin with you, Alicia. You tell me on Alicia, right? Does I got that right? Tell me what you do with your company and what your company does.

Analicia Vaquez, Marketing Specialist at ABS Rents (01:13):
So our company is a ABS rents. We rent and sell fiber optic deployment equipment. We carry anything from lashers, fiber blowers, real trailers, trenchers, anything to help you out with your telecom jobs. And my position is marketing. So I control all their social medias, really market us out there and mostly deal with customer experience.

Jessica Denson (01:42):
And what about you, Amber?

Amber Romero, ABS Rents (01:44):
Good morning. So my position is I just help kind of vet and with new coming customers and then we also help them get into third party financing. And so it's just getting all the paperwork together so we can get equipment rented and sold.

Jessica Denson (01:59):
And you were telling me that you're based in Colorado, but do you service the whole country?

Amber Romero (02:04):
Yes, we do. We can ship anywhere in the United States, which has been really great because it's opened a lot of opportunity for us to just get it out anywhere. We are here to help you get the job done.

Jessica Denson (02:17):
And why did you decide to come to Mountain Connect Annalisa?

Analicia Vaquez (02:21):
To get ourselves out there. Again, I'm on the marketing team. I think it's super important with all of us being here gathered in the industry to just get our name out there, let everybody know that we're here for your support, we're here to help you get the job done and just kind of push you and your team forward to succeed.

Jessica Denson (02:41):
And Amber, what kind of stuff, I know you mentioned it briefly, but tell us really, what do you rent and why do you guys rent that stuff out? Is it just It is super expensive so it makes more sense for some companies to temporarily use that?

Amber Romero (02:52):
Yes, absolutely. I know fiber blowers could run up to $30,000 and up and some people just don't have that cash, but they have deadlines. So we offer one week and also four week rentals. We have anything for aerial and underground. So depending on what your project is, we have everything from cable ass to fiber blowers to RT 15 plows and micro trenchers. We carry grout machines and us being able to rent the item instead of just having to purchase it. We're able to reach a lot of people in different financial situations. For sure.

Jessica Denson (03:27):
So talk a little bit about yourselves. Alicia, I want you to begin then, Amber, I want to talk a little bit about what you're telling me about your children and connect a nation. So did you grow up in Colorado, Alisa, and what's it like living here for somebody who's never been?

Analicia Vaquez (03:44):
I did grow up in Colorado depending whether if you're in the city or in the mountains, you get the best of both worlds. I believe. I'm personally in Arvada, so I'm about 15 minutes away from the mountains and 15 minutes away from Denver. And so I can live my city, grow life, and then also live in the mountains and go camping, do fun things. So I love it. And then just this industry is so big here. We're growing and growing and placing fiber all over Colorado now, and so it's just been a really, really cool learning experience.

Jessica Denson (04:18):
How important is it for people to have access right now?

Analicia Vaquez (04:22):
I think it's super important. I mean, we use our phones, the internet all the time, and so placing these fiber optics everywhere is just helping our community grow into something bigger and helps each other connect with each other more or less.

Jessica Denson (04:38):
And now with you, Amber, we really connected because we were talking about your kids and some of the work that Connected Nation's done. Talk about what we did with you and your family.

Amber Romero (04:49):
It's so funny that I actually got to run into you. I remember when Covid hit, I was a single mom with four kids and we weren't able to work. My kids still had school to attend to and my son is now a senior and he will be graduating Connected Colorado had offered each one of my children a mobile wifi box that allowed them to still go to school and take their classes and continue in their education, which is so huge and we didn't have to pay for 'em. And so for me as a mother and their kids still being allowed to get their education is huge. And my son is going to be graduating waiting this year because of it. I'm so thankful.

Jessica Denson (05:28):
Yeah, connected Colorado is a separate organization. I just want to note, but we did do a similar program across the country where we gave 80,000. We partnered with at and t, so those boxes were so critical. They're called hotspots, hot boxes.

Jessica Denson (05:44):
So I asked on Alicia how that life is for her here. How is it for you and how important, especially having kids, is it to have a good connection?

Amber Romero (05:54):
I think everything right now is going mobile. Everything's on the computer, even job applications. I know my son's starting to put in applications. They don't have paper applications no more. Everything is done online. If you want to connect with somebody, you have to get online to do it. It's huge. This industry is so important. Definitely.

Jessica Denson (06:14):
What would you hope that people remember about? Is it a BS rents? I'll let you go on Alicia first and then Amber, you can just round us out.

Analicia Vaquez (06:26):
We're here to help you get the job done. It's our job to help you be successful in your job, your project, anything pushing you forward. And so we're here to help.

Amber Romero (06:39):
Yeah, you're not just working with just a company. We're actually trying to build friendships and connections with people That way you get this one project and anything else in the future, we will always be there to help support and so like I said, you can call email. Everything is on social. We have Instagram, Facebook, what is it, Alicia?

Analicia Vaquez (07:00):
We have Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok. You can find us anywhere at ABS Rents. And then our phone number is (303) 990-3159.

Jessica Denson (07:13):
Alright, I'll include a link to your company's website in the description of this podcast. Thank you ladies. I really appreciate your time.

Amber Romero (07:20):
Yes, ma'am. Nice to meet you, Jessica.

Analicia Vaquez (07:22):
Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure.

Jessica Denson (07:24):
I am still at the Mountain Connect Conference taking place in Denver, Colorado, and right across from me is KLJ engineering and the gentlemen that are running that booth, Steve and Mike, were kind enough to give me good advice about what to do with my booth when the lights went out and I appreciate it because all my stuff's here. Anyway. Thank you Steve Valdez for joining me on the podcast.

Steve Valdez (07:45):
Thank you. Yeah.

Jessica Denson (07:47):
Talk a little bit about KLJ and what you guys do.

Steve Valdez, Business Development for Telecom a KLJ (07:50):
KLJ is a full service fiber engineering company that has locations in 18 states across the country. My particular region is the west region, west everything west of Colorado to the California coast and Pacific Northwest. So we work with companies to design fiber networks, fiber to the home Middle Mile, any fiber expansion project. That's what we're good at. Yeah.

Jessica Denson (08:21):
What's your official title with the company?

Steve Valdez, Business Development for Telecom a KLJ (08:24):
Business Development for Telecom.

Jessica Denson (08:26):
And right now things are going crazy with bead all the money that's gone out to it, obviously as a result of the pandemic people realizing that people need a connection. How is KLJ approaching that right now at shows like this?

Steve Valdez (08:38):
Talking in watching the industry with all of the bead money and funding that's coming out of the federal government, state governments, we work with those entities to take a look and at the companies that are looking to develop those areas, underserved and what have you, we look for that and then we go and we talk with 'em. We talk with 'em at shows like this. We'll reach out to them and actually go to their offices and visit with them to see how we can do it. There's so much work out there right now. Not one company can handle all of it. Our industry is completely upside down as far as the people that are needed to perform the work. That's why telecom schools, companies like KLJ are in such a high demand right now.

Jessica Denson (09:29):
Yeah. At Connected Nation, we've been doing this for almost 25 years, and we always talk about, it's such a big thing. It's such a big project or need that you can't do it alone. You have to do it with partners and work together. What are some of the, when you're looking at some of the projects that are going across in the 18 states, I take it you're not, you work across the country even though you're in 18 locations, right? 

Steve Valdez (09:52):
We do. We're across the country in all the states east of here. They brought me on board to help develop the west region stronger. That's where my strengths of light for the last 30 plus years is in the west region.

Jessica Denson (10:09):
So doing this the last 30 plus years, what are you really seeing change? What types of projects are really in high demand right now? Is it that last mile? Is it that middle mile? Is it a combination thereof? What are you really seeing out there?

Steve Valdez (10:21):
It's a combination thereof. Before the cost to build to areas outside of the main city corridors was really prohibited because of the costs. Now with the funding that's coming into play, it's enabling companies to be able to reach out further than they ever have before. Electrical co-ops are also participating in this program, these programs, and they have infrastructure in place, which is making it a lot easier. And the access to get out to these areas where before it was cost prohibitive before. So that's the big change.

Jessica Denson (10:57):
I really like that. Your motto that I'm looking at over your shoulder is engineering reimagined. Explain what you mean by that.

Steve Valdez (11:06):
There was a basic way of engineering projects before that. Everybody pretty much followed. It was a bell standards. Over the years, those standards have been a basis for engineering designs and other aspects of it. But as the industry has evolved, technology has evolved. It is our thinking as far as how we design networks has changed as well. And we have adapted to the new changes in technology. Fiber in the ground is fiber in the ground, but how it's connected and what it's connected to and the number of fibers that are needed to provide the signal is changed as well too. It used to take sometimes 12, the 24 fibers. Now in a lot of cases it takes one. So all of those aspects come into play when we're designing networks.

Jessica Denson (11:58):
Is there anything that you see on the horizon that you're excited about within this sphere?

Steve Valdez (12:03):
The growth. I mean the funding and the realization that there's a lot of private equity involved with this. Not just the government money that's helping spur this, but the growth and the capabilities of getting out to the areas. I used to live out east here in Colorado, and there were times when I almost had to stick my cell phone out the window to get a signal. And I am glad to see the changes coming with the technology and those areas are now being able to be connected. The ranchers and the farmers out where I lived never had those capabilities either. So it's exciting to see that growth and the industry is just, it's on fire right now.

Jessica Denson (12:50):
I love to point out that even though we talk a lot about rural America, you might think in your mind it's not very many people, but really rural America. America is millions and millions of Americans. It's our farm belt, it's ranchers. It's so many people that need help and need this access. So I really like, one thing I do on my podcast that I think is a little different is I like to really get to know the people that I talk to. So tell me a little bit about your background and what led you to engineering.

Steve Valdez (13:16):
I started out in the telecom world in California with GTE. My dad worked for the phone company and that's what got me interested. Oh, wow. So I worked out there for a number of years until I decided I wanted to move from California, and I'm originally from Colorado. So I moved back to Colorado about 30 plus years ago and started working out here for US West, which turned into Quest into a few other companies. Then from there to several other companies through EXO Communications. Then it was acquired by Verizon, and I worked for Verizon for a number of years. And now I'm with KLJ.

Jessica Denson (13:55):
So you have a storied long background in.

Steve Valdez (13:59):
I have built a lot of network across the country. I was a west region manager for XO communications, so I oversaw all of the network expansions for XO from Colorado to the west coast and Pacific Northwest.

Jessica Denson (14:13):
And I don't think I'd be bad to point out that when you talk about 65 billion that are coming out with just beat alone, that there's sometimes can be bad actors who haven't worked in this space that just pop up. So it's important to check a resume, don't you think? 

Steve Valdez (14:26):
I would, yes. Say so. When you have a lot of money like that, there's people that are looking for opportunities to get at it. Yeah.

Jessica Denson (14:35):
So what do you love about it?

Steve Valdez (14:37):
About the industry? The evolution of it. I've watched it where we started out putting a 48 count fiber in the ground and thinking that that was going to adequate. And we put up multiple conduits in the ground thinking we'll never use those. Well, those are all full. And it needed for more expansion, more conduit in the ground and more fiber counts that are bigger. Eight 60 fours 17. 1720 fours just was never even heard of before. I started out in telecom when there was still step equipment in the switches, and I remember walking in there and you had to put earplugs in because it was so loud. Oh wow. And then that evolved into cosmic frames and electronic switches that made no noise. So it's been a big change. Find the seed involved in the whole industry, and that's what I enjoy about doing it. I enjoy this industry. I've been doing it for a long time and I just like doing it.

Jessica Denson (15:41):
I can tell you do, because I was watching y'all talk to people and because it can't help you. You're my neighbors. You seem to enjoy talking about it. So a final word, what would you want people to remember about, excuse me? What would you want people to remember about KLJ engineering?

Steve Valdez (15:56):
That we are a full service engineering company and the designers and the team that we have are very good at what they do. That was one of the reasons why I came over to KLJ that I actually came to work here, is because I visited with the team, the manager who I've known for 25 years, and saw that they are, they took the industry serious and they want to be the leaders in what we do. And they have built a team to do that and support it. And it's great to work with people like that. That's what I enjoy doing is working with professionals that care about the industry and are good at it.

Jessica Denson (16:40):
Well, Steve Valdez, thank you so much for joining me.

Steve Valdez (16:43):
Thank you.

Our next episode of Connected Nation, I will continue our coverage from the Mountain Connect Conference taking place in Denver, Colorado. Until then, I'm Jessica Denson and this is Connected Nation. I.