Vertical integration is taking wireless networks to the top, beginning with Nexius.
“By seeing the big picture, we consider the interrelatedness of all network elements in the most practical ways,” CEO Gaby Saliby said, “while concurrently focusing our attention on the important small details of each project, our experience and deep understanding of wireless and fiber network technology, paired with our ability to streamline the deployment process, makes Nexius a valuable business partner.”
Nexius was founded in 2001 and is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The company provides engineering and program management for communications networks and has since evolved into a family of companies known as the Infiniux group—a group of companies focused on deploying the digital infrastructure for the smart economy. The group consists of Nexius, Velex, Velex SI, AccuV, Allios, Intelgica and MyndCo.
The group performs end-to-end services in the public and private network space, covering both wireless and wireline areas. Powered by a proprietary AI-driven platform, the company’s digitized process supports the integration of critical activities across functional silos, including program management, engineering, planning, design, field services, and material management.
Nexius takes an integrated deployment approach that allows them to think, design, and plan differently for better and faster network implementation, according to Saliby. “By tying together the design, optimization, deployment, and delivery of state-of-the-art networks, we’re able to pinpoint the optimal time to market,” he said.
Nexius is a premier service provider for all major tier-one carrier networks and has become a major partner in rolling out the wireless network, including 5G and beyond. Saliby expects the business to continue its rapid growth in the coming years.
Among several of Nexius’ recent high-profile jobs, they were trusted to design and deploy upgrades to the network for the most recent presidential inauguration.
Field Services: Making Sure There Are Techs on the Towers
Nexius sister company Velex is a tower construction and technical services company providing tower, civil, and small cell installation services for wireless and wireline projects.
Headquartered in Frisco, Texas, Velex has locations coast to coast from California to Florida. Today, the company deploys hundreds of internal tower crews, while leveraging top field services companies to augment crew capacity.
“Tower climbing is a very scarce skill, and the 5G network rollout is amplifying that bottleneck,” Saliby said. “We set up Velex to provide resources in addition to our internal crews to serve Nexius and other customers.”
Velex offers a full range of services, including antenna and line installation, turnkey new site builds, centralized-RAN node and hub construction, in-building and DAS, structural modifications, microwave, backhaul, fiber installation, and electrical, including power plants, generators and service upgrades.
Velex is growing organically through an out-of-the box approach to attracting new talent from beyond the industry and providing training and development through its sister company MyndCo, a national training academy for the smart economy.
“Velex is a privately-owned business and always puts employees at the center of the culture itself,” Saliby said. “Once a tower technician joins Velex, they may grow within the company or expand their skills to join any one of the other companies. In fact, the head of Velex today started with us six years ago as a technician and now leads the operation. We create a vibrant environment where, aside from the healthy compensation and benefits, we create a career path for people and make sure they can progress with us and grow. We embrace them and bring them into the family.”
In-house Training: Keeping the Workforce Strong
Sister company MyndCo directly integrates with Velex by training its technicians in tower work, small cell deployment, and civil electrical. The company trains thousands of technicians a year, according to Saliby. Velex puts its service partners through quality and safety training, as well.
“MyndCo, in the first half of the year, has been training very aggressively in anticipation for the second half rollout of the C band,” Saliby said. “Obviously, because of the scarcity of resources, we want to be able to go out and expand and grow the pool of technicians by reaching out to people, such as veterans and high school students, to attract people into this space.”
Vertical Integration: Rolling Out Networks Faster
The primary driver behind the vertically integrated model is economic. Today, there are more carriers chasing smaller ARPUs with denser networks. As a matter of course, networks must be rolled out faster and for less money, placing pressure on the traditional system of subcontracting. Outsourcing all the services throughout the build to other companies leads to a high-cost structure, putting pressure on their margins and the time it takes to build.
The synergy in the Infiniux approach to vertical integration is focused on owning all the companies to complete each telecom engineering and deployment process end-to-end, resulting in faster speed to market at a lower cost with fewer touchpoints.
“The outsource model proved over the years to be unsustainable by driving an inefficient financial model—margin stacking—and longer cycle times,” Saliby said. “Because we’re vertically integrated, we can build all the communications networks, whether in the wireless or wireline space. We have the capability in house to complete an entire project, end-to-end, from the time you design to the time you program manage to material management to field service and maintenance. That’s the power of vertical integration.”
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