December 9, 2008 -- ADC announced that it is engaging its Professional Services team with central Minnesota-based Albany Tel to upgrade the cooperative's copper lines to a fiber network that can support advanced bandwidth-intensive services. By the end of the five-year fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) project, Albany Tel's 3,800 subscribers will have access to all-digital offerings like Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) and high-definition TV, as well as high-speed Internet up to 100 Mbps.
"We wanted to work with ADC because of the quality of their products and customer care. They offer skilled technicians that can help with all phases of our network upgrades," says Tom Eveslage, network operations manager for Albany Tel. "The ADC equipment also takes less space in the central office, but leaves enough room for growth -- particularly important as we move toward more fiber and less copper."
Currently about 85 percent of the cooperative's network consists of copper lines, with fiber accounting for the other 15 percent. Eveslage said those numbers likely will flip-flop by the end of this five-year project.
Using an active-Ethernet architecture, Albany Tel is deploying greenfield fiber networks, primarily in new-home developments, and building over existing copper lines. As the fiber reaches more homes and businesses, customers will experience network speeds ten times faster than Albany Tel's current 10 Mbps broadband offerings.
"Albany Tel's decision to use both our central office and outside-plant gear for their five-year fiber rollout underlines our commitment to flexible and future-proof fiber solutions that grow with our customers," comments Pat Thompson, director of core connectivity solutions for ADC. "Our customers repeatedly trust ADC to deliver products and the expertise to install and maintain fiber deployments, no matter how advanced their fiber plans may be."
Albany Tel's central office features ADC's FiberGuide fiber-management system and OMX splice bays, which are part of ADC's central office product suite. The cooperative also relies on ADC's OmniReach FTTX Solutions in its outside plant, where it uses ADC's 24-fiber Next Generation Frame and RiserGuide cable-management system. Albany Tel is one of ADC's first customers to place the multi-fiber assemblies and RiserGuide solution alongside the active equipment in an Ethernet deployment.
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www.albanytel.com
