How MKB Net leveraged automation for sustainable network growth.

Background

MKB Net is one of the first customers of Netadmin, starting the network in 2003, with Netadmin starting in 2004, and MKB growing to over 30,000 connected premises in 2024.

“Many of the people we talk to at Netadmin have worked with MKB Net longer than any of us have been employed.”, says Erik Gotthardsson, system owner of Netadmin at MKB Net. Both companies have grown together, taking on challenges and reaping mutual benefits.

“Since the start of the city network, Netadmin has met all our needs, and we haven't even had to think about other solutions.”

Erik Gotthardsson, System owner

Challenges

Growing a fiber network from scratch involves changing as you go - as you scale, you have to think about how you build, operate, and support your services in order to stay efficient in all areas of the business, be it buildout, customer support, and troubleshooting, supplier relations, or NOC technician workload.

Solutions

Netadmin supplies a solution that aims to support the entire customer journey, from buildout through customer acquisition, onboarding, in-life support, billing, and termination. Integrations with ISPs through the Swedish ON-API, enabling end customer portals through the customer portal backend API, delivering easy billing and campaign management through the billing module, and letting supplying ISPs run troubleshooting themselves through the troubleshooting tools, decreasing the number of support tickets - these are some of the solutions that have resulted from the close collaboration between Netadmin and MKB Net throughout the years.

Outcome

MKB Net has scaled its processes to focus on growing and optimizing the business by using the possibility to control, automate, and simplify workflows.

In the future, MKB will see an increasing focus on network security and new laws and regulations. With slowing buildout rates also comes a shifting focus towards maintenance instead of growth, increasing signup rates and ensuring cost effectiveness to match competing solutions.

“We have to work better, faster, and cheaper,” says Erik Gotthardsson, and Netadmin is looking forward to enabling this together.

About MKB

MKB Fastighets AB, owned by the City of Malmö, is one of Sweden's largest public housing companies and the largest real estate company in Malmö, with a third of the rental market, 370 employees, almost 27,000 apartments, and 1000 commercial premises. Around 65,000 out of 360,000 Malmö residents live in an MKB apartment.

MKB Net is a wholly owned subsidiary of MKB Fastighet, tasked with building, owning, and running a fiber network (city network) and a cable TV network that provides MKB Fastighet, Rosengård Fastigheter, and parts of Malmö city's housing with digital services.

The TV network has been used since 2000, and the broadband network since 2003. All properties, apartments, and commercial premises are included in the network, which means there are just over 30,000 apartments and 1000 commercial premises. MKB Fastighet has a large new production, and about 750 apartments are added annually to MKB Net’s network.

There are 12 different broadband providers, and one cable TV provider delivers services to MKB Net's connected properties. MKB Net has an open network and welcomes all suppliers who want to deliver services.