Cablefax The Magazine - July 2012 - 33

2012 Top Ops Awards
INDEPENDENT TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE
OF THE YEAR
Almis Kuolas
Atlantic Broadband
Atlantic Broadband has only been
around since 2003, but in less than
a decade it's fashioned itself into the
14th largest cable system in the United
States. At the heart of that system is
the man who designed its network
infrastructure and continues to direct its evolution today. Almis
Kuolas is Atlantic Broadband's CTO, and it's his engineering
and leadership skills that not only help keep the lights on, but
also push Internet speeds higher, drive new services to market
and keep customers happy and connected.
CEO David J. Keefe certainly has positive words for Kuolas.
" He is a true future technologist with a keen eye for the
fi nancial impact of his decisions, " says Keefe. " His dedication
and commitment to Atlantic Broadband is remarkable,
and we are lucky to have him on the team. "
In many ways, the biggest challenge for Kuolas today is
the same as it was nine years ago: Finding a way to meet
bandwidth demand. Like every other operator, Atlantic
Broadband needs more capacity to support growth. As part
of a mid-size operator, however, Kuolas acknowledges that
access to capital is an issue. And that means he has to fi nd
cost-effective ways to extend bandwidth and keep Atlantic
Broadband competitive.
Kuolas isn't just looking at how much bandwidth his
company will need tomorrow either. He's thinking ahead to
the future too. It would be convenient to latch on to a single
strategy for bandwidth expansion, but that doesn't make
sense for Atlantic Broadband.
" Our approach is probably a little bit more practical, "
says Kuolas. " We look at what the bandwidth is right now,
the subscribers we have, and what the density is for the
system. For example, we have certain areas in Florida
where we have super high-density high-rises... and in that
environment it makes sense for us to do a plant upgrade
because the cost of doing so is far cheaper than putting in
DTAs (digital terminal adapters) for every customer. On the
other hand... we have areas that are less urban with much
lower density, and in those cases we have a lot of miles of
plant and not so many customers per mile, and it's much
cheaper for us to put in the DTAs. "
The approach works, and Kuolas has been able to feed
enough bandwidth into the system to convert the vast majority
of subscribers to DOCSIS 3.0-capable broadband. By
the time this article hits print, Kuolas says that 87% of his
customers will be capable of taking a DOCSIS 3.0 service.
Of course the challenges don't end there. Kuolas is also
looking ahead to an IP migration, and fi nding the right
strategy for dealing with a potentially diffi cult transition
period. He believes Atlantic Broadband will probably end up
deploying a hybrid gateway device, but there's still a lot of
work to do in picking the right partner and deploying those
gateways intelligently. So-called " TV Everywhere " initiatives
are a natural follow-on to an IP migration, but at the moment,
Kuolas is still evaluating his options for delivering a
multi-screen service.
Fast Facts
✦ Atlantic Broadband is headquartered in Quincy, MA, but its
primary markets are in Pennsylvania, Florida, Maryland/Delaware,
and South Carolina.
✦ Kuolas has more than 25 years of engineering experience.
✦ Kuolas has a degree in physics from the University of Toronto.
With all the challenges in the cable business, it's a wonder
Kuolas sticks around. But there's a lot warmth in his
voice when talks about his team at Atlantic Broadband.
" We have a lot of fun, " says Kuolos. " I don't think
anybody would be here at Atlantic Broadband, at least at
the senior level, if we didn't enjoy what we were doing. To
a large degree, we really do enjoy each other's company,
and enjoy doing what we all do, and we work very well as
a team. " ✴
- Mari Silbey
CableFAX: The Magazine
July 2012
cablefaxmag.com
33
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