Challenges faced and why CTN chose Splynx from day one

When CTN Malawi began its journey in 2019, the team conducted extensive research to find a suitable billing and provisioning system.

The country’s poor infrastructure and limited internet connectivity meant that CTN needed a robust system capable of functioning reliably, even with intermittent internet access.

As an experienced entrepreneur, Brian understood the importance of delegation. However, running the business in Malawi presented unique operational challenges:

• Human Resource: Finding competent personnel with the necessary technical skills and experience was difficult. Automation was essential to reduce the workload and the potential for human error.
• Financial Constraints: As a startup in a resource-constrained environment, CTN had to ensure that every investment was cost-effective and contributed to reducing operational costs by automating processes and reducing reliance on personnel.

The need for automation was critical to save on their monthly bill by reducing operational costs and human resource requirements. Splynx stood out as a comprehensive solution that could integrate billing and provisioning into a single platform.

This integration was crucial for CTN to automate as much as possible and ensure consistent and predictable processes.

As Dritan Vreshta, CEO of StarNet and a fellow Splynx customer, once said:

By choosing Splynx from day one, CTN Malawi established a solid foundation that enabled them to automate critical processes, minimize human error, and focus on growing their business.

Splynx in action or the role of Splynx in CTN’s daily operations

Every member of the CTN team uses Splynx daily:

• Sales team: Manages leads from quote to service fulfillment.
• Accounts and billing team: Use the CRM and billing management features to handle billing cycles, accounting reporting, daily engagements and resolve customer inquiries.

The centralized system allows the management team to pull reports and share performance data with shareholders.

• Network Operations Center (NOC): Utilizes Splynx to share customer graphs, troubleshoot issues, and use customer profiles and information for easier troubleshooting.
• Technical team and field engineers: Make use of the scheduling feature and mobile app to schedule their work, manage work orders, tasks, and document installations.

How LibreQoS helps CTN tackle every ISP’s biggest enemy – bufferbloat!

One of the key pillars of CTN’s success is the use of LibreQoS, which integrates with their Splynx. They started using LibreQoS about two years ago to manage the quality of service and traffic shaping. Brian described it as a “quality of experience engine” that helps deal with bufferbloat, the ISP’s biggest enemy. Anytime you hear customers complaining — “The internet is slow, or my Netflix is buffering, my YouTube is buffering” — in 90% of cases, the cause of that is bufferbloat.

The integration between LibreQoS and Splynx is seamless, allowing CTN to set service packages and bandwidth limits effortlessly. This setup has significantly reduced the manual tweaking and fiddling previously required.

LibreQoS also plays a crucial role in CTN’s revenue assurance by identifying unauthorized users. There were cases of illegal connections to the company’s network, and with the help of LibreQoS, they were able to detect and stop these unauthorized connections, preventing the abuse of their bandwidth.

The impact of Splynx and LibreQoS on CTN Malawi’s efficiency and growth

Since CTN Malawi started using Splynx, they have seen big improvements across their operations. The platform’s features and smooth integration have made its services much more efficient and effective.

Operational Efficiency

Each company must build effective processes and keep them on point to survive and thrive in a constrained or competitive market. CTN was able to build effective operations with Splynx from day one, using automation to save significant time and reduce the need for manual intervention.

Customer Retention

The ability to keep everything under one roof, track and manage customer data has helped CTN reduce churn and recover 50% of lost customers by re-engaging them.

Better customer experience and troubleshooting

The seamless integration with LibreQoS has made it easier for support teams to resolve network issues and ensure a better customer experience.

Plans with Powerlynx

CTN Malawi has recently begun testing the hotspot management platform Powerlynx as part of its strategy to expand its public hotspot offerings. The team quickly recognized Powerlynx’s potential to help them achieve their vision of providing reliable and accessible internet to underserved areas.

Here are 4 main insights based on their feedback:

1. Fast and easy setup

The team was impressed with how quickly and easily they could set up Powerlynx. Brian shares a funny situation that happened:

2. Team enthusiasm and confirmation

The internal team, which included members from technical, billing, customer service, and sales departments, tested Powerlynx and loved its functionality. Their positive feedback confirmed that Powerlynx would be a key component in CTN’s public hotspot strategy.

3. Addressing the digital divide

With Powerlynx, CTN plans to roll out reliable public hotspots that make high-quality internet accessible to everyone, regardless of their socio-economic status. Brian emphasized the importance of bridging the digital divide in Malawi.

4. Plans for the future

The team is excited about the future possibilities with Powerlynx.

By incorporating Powerlynx into their services, CTN Malawi aims to enhance internet accessibility and affordability, further solidifying their commitment to bridging the digital divide in their community.