cfx_september-2024 - 5

MSO OF THE YEAR
SIMPLY
THE BEST
Midco Strives to Deliver Something to Everyone
By Amy Maclean
A recent ribbon cutting ceremony for Midco's Technical Operations Center in Isanti, Minnesota.
Even before COVID amplified the need for
more broadband bandwidth, Midco saw where
things were headed and began planning. The
Midwestern operator launched its Fiber Forward
initiative in 2021, committing $500 million
to introduce multi-gig symmetrical speeds
across its markets with an aim to advance its
network in anticipation of evolving consumer
requirements.
" We're in our fourth year of doing all of our
plant extensions in our greenfield new markets
with fiber to the premise. It's kind of like
we're capping HFC and upgrading HFC, and
anything new is fiber to the prem. We anticipate
by the end of '28 that 25% of our passings
will be fiber to the prem, " says Midco CEO Pat
McAdaragh.
Pushing forward with the latest technologies
is in Midco's DNA. It was started in 1931 as
the Welworth Theater Company where it pioneered
drive-in movies in the upper Midwest.
In 1969, Pierre, South Dakota, became one of
the first state capitals in the U.S. to have cable
TV thanks to Midco. It went on to become the
first in South Dakota to offer quality, low-cost
long-distance service in 1982. Now Midco is
on a mission to expand its fiber network by
22,000 miles to deliver state-of-the-art service
to its customers.
CablefaxTopOps.com
And it approaches it all with a company
culture that recognizes people are the heart
of everything Midco does. " The expectation
of creating a respectful and helpful serviceoriented
culture, which starts right at the top
with our leadership group and our ownership,
really creates the culture that helps us drive
great results. And also we have pretty high
retention rates, " notes Chief Human Resources
Officer Ann McGlennen.
Midco has revamped its onboarding experience,
with a heavy emphasis on the first 90
days, to get new employees off to a strong
start. It also provides ongoing leadership training
and skill development. Earlier this year,
Midco was recognized by The WICT Network
as a " Platinum PAR Operator, " a designation
received by only two other cable operators
that have consistently ranked among the top
workplaces for women in the organization's
benchmarking tool.
When Chief Operations Officer Ben Dold
joined the company 13 years ago, he recognized
immediately it was something different.
" From getting the interview with Pat to meeting
the team, I could tell that it was a company
that was going places and had a bright future
ahead of it. And it had a culture that I could
really thrive within, " says Dold, who joined as
September 2024
marketing analyst and was promoted to COO
in January 2023. One of the first projects he
worked on was Midco's acquisition of 33,000
Minnesota and Wisconsin subs from US Cable,
which provided a strong foundation for all the
growth ahead.
Right now, Midco's existing HFC plant is
at over 50% mid-split upgrades. In May, it introduced
" Beyond Gig " plans offering 2 GB
download speeds and 400 Mbps or 350 Mbps
upload speeds. It's also in the process of rolling
out high-splits that should bring speeds
of 5 gigs down/1.5 gigs up. Along the way, the
company's laying the groundwork for DOCSIS
4.0 once the technology is ready for deployment.
" We'll have everything in there and the
investment made, and then it'll just be, 'OK,
now do we convert to 4.0 or not?' " McAdaragh
explains. " It will be driven partially by what it's
looking like on churn and competitive variables.
Because if it's a large dollar ticket at that
time, and you're already serving these highend
customers with PON or DOCSIS 3.1+ and
you're not having any pushback, that might
have a five-year life there. "
Mobile isn't part of Midco's product set yet,
but it's on the roadmap. " We're still in the early
phases. We have no agreements with anyone
at this stage, no choices made, just an internal
Top Ops 5

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