May 31, 2005 Atlanta, GA -- The Valley Telecom Group of Willcox, Arizona has selected Wave7 Optics' Last Mile Link (LML) FTTP PON equipment to deliver triple play broadband services to residential and business customers in Willcox and Safford, Arizona.
According to a press release, the network construction, partially funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service (RUS) loan, will begin in mid-2005 and eventually pass more than 7000 homes and businesses in the two communities. The construction is expected to span nine months.
The group says it is overbuilding existing Qwest copper-based facilities to expand the region's broadband services offering. Subscribers to the FTTP network will receive more than 100 TV channels, four telephone lines, and a symmetrical, high-speed Internet connection. The group's service region currently includes 10,000 access lines.
The group is also using the platform to provide FTTP service to Playas, New Mexico - the site of a former smelting operation that became a "ghost town" after the operation closed. New Mexico Tech University subsequently purchased the property and will use it to model disaster simulations as part of the university's contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The FTTP network will provide the high-speed data connections and other communications capabilities required to conduct the simulation exercises, according to the release.
"We liked the economics and deployment flexibility of the LML system, such as having hardened PON ONTs that can stand up in the field to our harsh summers," concludes Joe Webb, COO of Valley Telecom.