Customer Stories

Covad DSL Sparks Savings at Electrical Contracting Company

“I find Covad’s pricing to be very competitive-and it’s reliable. I can count on my DSL being available when I need it.”
—Lou Matson, Owner
Active Enterprises

Electrical contracting conjures up images of work crews in tool belts climbing poles or dissecting fuse-box innards. But commercial electrical contracting companies, such as Active Enterprises in Wood Dale, Illinois, depend as heavily on the smooth functioning of their back-offices as they do on the skill of their electricians in the field.

Active Enterprises has 12 employees, 2 of whom work in the company office, communicating with customers, engineers, and suppliers. Particularly critical is the timely transmission of large AutoCAD files containing electrical plans. When owner Lou Matson first opened shop, he tried using a dial-up account to send the 2 MB to 4 MB files. Dial-up was not only frustratingly slow but also costly.

“Let’s say you’ve got four electricians standing around at $85 per hour, unable to do their jobs until you and the engineer get them the information they need,” says Matson. “It doesn’t take long to burn up some serious money.”

Covad’s staying power helps ensure reliable DSL service

About five years ago, Matson began researching DSL on the Internet, reading about dozens of companies and experiencing several firsthand. “The first company we used offered a low price, but we were down almost as much as we were up,” he says. Work on construction sites would grind to a halt while Matson’s office reverted to faxes and other time-consuming methods to resolve logistical or technical problems.

Matson continues, “Another DSL provider that we tried gave us really good speed-but they stopped offering DSL service, which left me with only a limited time to find a new provider.”

When Matson began searching for a replacement DSL provider, he focused on the same features he had always looked for-low price and high speed-but also added reliability to the list. These criteria led him to the Covad, the largest national provider of DSL to small businesses.

“A lot of DSL companies have come and gone, but Covad is doing well. That was one of the deciding factors for us in choosing Covad,” says Matson. “It comes down to survival of the fittest.”

Timely transmission of files improves productivity and saves money

These days, Matson’s DSL connection is saving him money rather than causing him headaches. Matson has used Covad for six months now and reports that the improved uptime from his connection has increased worker productivity in the field. These days, his employees do not stand idle waiting for information.

Matson also saves on his monthly DSL fees. He paid nearly twice as much for his last DSL provider and finds that his Covad connection offers the speed he needs for about half the price, saving him around $80 per month.

“I find Covad’s pricing to be very competitive-and it’s reliable,” says Matson. That reliability, according to Matson, is Covad DSL’s greatest benefit: “I can count on my DSL being available when I need it.”