Oxford Networks’ Rick Anstey helped create a culture open to change.
AUBURN – Rick Anstey knows how to make connections.
The president of Oxford Networks, the telecommunications company that is building a new office in downtown Lewiston and installing a fiber optic network in the two cities, Anstey spoke to more than 200 members of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce Thursday at Martindale Country Club.
Using sections of cable as props, Anstey compared the technology of conventional copper wire cable and fiber optic cable. Conventional cable has 100 pairs of copper wires and the capacity to carry 100 simultaneous phone calls; fiber optic cable has 864 glass components, each capable of carrying hundreds of thousands of simultaneous phone calls. The fiber optic network will have the capacity to bring phone, Internet, high-speed data and digital video channel services on one line.
The leap in technology is impressive, said Anstey, but it pales in comparison to the effort needed to shift a company to embrace change.
“It’s easy to convert one and difficult to convert the other,” he said.
But it’s possible, and the results can be worth it. Five years ago, when Anstey came to Oxford Networks, the 98-year-old company had about 14,000 customers and $8 million in revenue. Now it has 30,000 customers and nearly $20 million in revenues.
“We had 98 years of slow, steady change, but all was not well,” said Anstey.
Chief among the problems was an almost naive disinterest in competition. The company was losing ground to cable TV, which was breaking into broadband access, and wireless companies were taking telephone business. Meanwhile utility regulators were getting aggressive about lowering prices.
“We were kind of clueless about the impact of competition,” said Anstey, noting there was no marketing and sales staff at the time.
So Anstey started working on the culture at Oxford Networks, beginning with the bosses. He emphasized the need for truth and trust in all communications among employees. It caused some of the management team to leave, but those who remained helped bring the workers and board members on board. Together they worked on taking responsibility, increasing standards of performance, making the company different from all other competitors and playing big – a catch phrase for setting lofty goals and then going after them.
Building corporate offices in downtown Lewiston and installing 380 miles of fiber optic cable are examples of playing big, said Anstey.
“I like to think we’ll have a big impact on Lewiston-Auburn’s economy,” he told the crowd.
The company is building the L-A network in five phases. The first phase is 60 percent complete and the company expects to open its new offices in May. The first local phone call over Oxford Networks’ cables happened last week when Lewiston Mayor-elect Lionel Guay received a congratulatory phone call from his brother, Auburn Mayor Norm Guay.
Anstey said it will take five years for the network to be complete. The company is looking at defining the second phase now. As neighborhoods are brought into the network, the company will advertise its services to those areas, probably through events and direct marketing.
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