I was preparing for an upcoming interview with Ripple Fiber and wanted to sharpen my Power BI skills on something directly relevant. Instead of using a generic practice file, I pulled together a mock dataset that mimics county-level broadband coverage: households, providers, and market gaps similar to what I might see on the job. It was the perfect way to practice analysis while exploring a topic I genuinely care about.
What began as interview prep quickly became more than practice. I set out to build a Power BI dashboard that could highlight Ripple Fiber’s current footprint, benchmark it against competitors, and reveal where the biggest growth opportunities lie.
The dataset listed every county, the number of households, and broadband coverage for each provider including Ripple and its competitors.
I opened Power BI and began shaping the data with Power Query, promoting headers, cleaning up columns, and adding calculated fields to turn household counts into meaningful percentages. Then came DAX, where I built measures like Ripple Coverage %, Competitor Gap %, and Potential Market %. Each metric transformed rows of numbers into insight.
The dashboard grew page by page:
Market Overview with KPI cards and a coverage map for a quick snapshot.
Ripple vs. Competitors using clustered bars and tables to show where rivals dominate.
Growth Opportunities highlighting counties with large populations but low Ripple penetration.
Executive Summary tying it all together with key KPIs and a focused map.
Interactive slicers made everything dynamic so any county, provider, or technology could be explored instantly.
When the visuals came alive, the story was clear:
Ripple Coverage %: 8.31% — fewer than one in ten households reached.
Competitor Gap %: 39% — competitors own nearly five times the footprint.
Potential Market %: 91.69% — a massive untapped audience.
Maps highlighted Ripple’s stronger counties: Watauga, New Hanover, Alamance, Iredell, Gaston, Johnston, Cumberland, Mecklenburg, Forsyth, and Buncombe. Light blue areas showed vast regions still open for expansion.
Seeing these numbers on a page is one thing. Watching them play out on an interactive map where a single click can reveal the competitive landscape is different. This dashboard does more than report statistics. It guides strategy and helps identify exactly where Ripple can focus to close the 91 percent gap.
What started as a dataset became a decision-making tool. This project reminded me why I love analytics: taking raw information, shaping it, and telling a story that sparks action. It is more than a dashboard. It is a blueprint for growth and a reminder of how data visualization can turn questions into clear direction.
Below is a static version of the Ripple Fiber dashboard I built to explore county-level broadband coverage, benchmark against competitors, and identify growth opportunities. I do have an interactive version, but due to Power BI web service limitations, I am currently sharing the PDF. This version still highlights key metrics and insights, and I plan to make the interactive dashboard available when possible.
This dashboard is currently provided as a static PDF. It will be updated to an interactive version when possible.↩︎