During the coronavirus pandemic, City Electric Supply (CES) has discovered an opportunity to support wireless infrastructure by providing support and materials to wireless and telecom businesses, as millions of Americans have made the move to working from home. CES Gaffney in South Carolina and CES Toccoa in Georgia are stocking up on specialized products to help supply their new and existing telecom customers.
“Cable, distribution equipment, grounding and bonding conductors, these aren’t things that every branch keeps on hand,” said Spartanburg District Manager Don Corbett in the press release. “It’s a very specific set of products, but where we are, it’s in demand because so many people are working from home. Keeping specialized supplies like this stocked is crucial for our partnership with essential businesses. They need solutions fast, and we’re proud to provide them.”
CES has served wireless telecom contractors in the Southeast region since 2005 by providing products for power distribution, grounding, conduit systems and more. Providing additional products for the telecom and wireless market has required taking on new suppliers. While CES has existing relationships with companies like Eaton, Priority Wire, Queen City Conduit and TAMCO fittings to support its C&I partners, the telecom business required some more specialized products and services, CES Public Relations Specialist Janan Buisier said in an e-mail to Electrical Marketing. For example, they added Harger Grounding to provide exothermic products.
Maintaining wireless networks is not an easy task, and it includes but is not limited to everyday maintenance and construction of new cell towers for companies such as AT&T, Verizon and others. As essential businesses, telecom companies approached CES worried about getting the necessary materials to keep cell towers and network structures running.
“We assured them of our essential status and that we were prepared to help them with anything on a daily basis,” Corbett said in the release.
CES’s support system includes staying fully stocked with necessary materials in order to help a customer out in the middle of the night or get products to remote sites, like mountainsides or rural areas. Right now, they are either shipping directly to customers and their job-sites or delivering shipments themselves, with their drivers often up as early as 5 a.m. to ensure products get delivered on time. Corbett adds they have had urgent orders get delivered all the way out to Tennessee from nearby branches.
“Being able to provide this level of service in a time like this is what being an essential supplier is all about,” Corbett added. “Our customers want to know that they can depend on us, and we’re never going to say we can’t do something for them if it’s possible.”