Steve Christensen is no stranger to pressure situations. The former BYU halfback scored two third-quarter touchdowns in a 45-44 win over Marshall Faulk's San Diego State Aztecs in 1993, including a 63-yard touchdown catch from then Cougar quarterback John Walsh. He played with the likes of Ty Detmer, Chad Lewis, Eric Drage and Tyler Anderson in his three-year career, dodging linebackers and defensive lineman on his way to a law degree from BYU's law school.

While Christensen's playing days may be over, he's still part of a talented team in the process of making perhaps its biggest pressure play to date - closing a $40.6 million deal for Provo's innovative but bleeding telecommunications network iProvo.

The media circus surrounding the sale is worlds away from Christensen's experience as a Cougar, who may prefer locking pads with middle-linebackers to news conferences and city council meetings.

"I'd take the linebacker any day," Christensen said smiling. "I never expected this much attention."

Broadweave Networks, founded in 1999 by Christensen, former Novell CEO Robert Frakenburg and fellow Cougar alumni Fraser Bullock and Ty Mattingly, was one of several companies that responded last summer when Provo sent out a request for private sector proposals to make its ailing network more profitable. After nine months of behind the scenes negotiations, Provo Mayor Lewis Billings announced the city's intent to sell iProvo to Broadweave at his annual budget proposal to city employees. The South Jordan based company has been under a veritable microscope ever since.

Members of Provo's municipal council and the iProvo review committee have questioned the specifics of the asset purchase agreement, which requires the city to put up $2.5 million to finance the agreement, as well as Broadweave's ability to handle more than 10,000 new customers.

Broadweave currently has just one-tenth that many subscribers, but Christensen is quick to point out his company's technical expertise and experience prove it's more than fit for the job.

"The iProvo network definitely introduces a big step," Christensen said. "But from a tech perspective it's right up our alley."

Broadweave owns two fiber-optic networks similar to iProvo in Traverse Mountain, a planned community in Lehi across from Thanksgiving Point, and Sienna Hills, a greenfield development near St. George.

Like iProvo, Christensen said his networks have "open architecture," meaning equipment from different manufacturers can communicate over the network. Closed networks can only support one manufacturer at a time, which can be problematic if a network operator's manufacturer of choice lags behind the rest of the industry.

"We can take one out and replace it with another. It's really our secret sauce," Christensen said.

That secret sauce is what ultimately won Broadweave the Sienna Hills contract over Qwest and Comcast, and attracted the attention of big investors like Sorenson Capital, a venture capital firm founded by Bullock, and Esnet, another investment group founded by BYU-grad David Moon.

Moon said Broadweave's customer service record and technical know-how sets it apart in the industry.

"When we were first approached about investing in Broadweave, one of the things I was concerned about was customer service," said Moon, who worked as a software engineer for Word Perfect and as the State of Utah's chief information officer. "In this business you're dependent upon retaining customers for your revenue, so you better have the ability to keep those customers satisfied."

Moon personally walked Traverse Mountain neighborhoods to ask Broadweave customers about the company's service, and found residents had nothing but good things to say.

"That made us feel a lot more comfortable about our investment," he said.

But Broadweave's success at Traverse Mountain and Sienna hills may have as much to do with its business model as it does with the company's technological expertise. Unlike iProvo's wholesale model where the city owned the network and leased it to service providers, Broadweave is both the network operator and the service provider in each of its locations. This allows Broadweave to avoid the inefficiencies and customer services issues that have plagued iProvo from its inception, Christensen said.

"Currently to activate a new customer on the iProvo network, a technician has to input information into 27 different systems," Christensen said. "You can't do that and be competitive."

According to Christensen combining the roles of service provider and network operator eliminates these inefficiencies, allowing his company to activate a new customer in five minutes instead of several hours. Broadweave also has plans to implement technology that would allow customers to upgrade television and Internet packages almost instantly online without having to talk to a technician.

Broadweave's plans could also provide additional employment and entertainment opportunities to BYU students.

"In order of magnitude BYU probably has more students with sales experience than any other university in the country," Christensen said in reference to summer sales companies that do a lot of recruiting at the university. "We plan on recruiting students heavily.

"We haven't discussed anything with the university yet, but I'd also like to have classic BYU sporting events, conference talks and BYU devotionals available on demand. We're really excited about all the opportunities."

The Provo City Council expects to vote on Broadweave's asset purchase agreement for the network by the end of June. While some council members are eager to unload the bleeding asset to a company with strong financial backing and a glowing customer service record, others question Broadweave's intentions.

While the backing of Sorenson Capital lent the relatively young company enough credibility to beat out competitors for the deal, council members have questioned if the venture capital firm is only in it to make a quick exit and profit. Bullock dismissed the criticism.

"Bottom line, we're looking to enhance services delivered to the customer," Bullock said. "We're not worried about two or three years down the road. We're worried about tomorrow."



Copyright Brigham Young University 30 May 2008