Rye Telephone Company expands existing fiber-to-the-home deployment in new, multi-year contract with Optical Solutions Inc.

Optical Solutions Inc., a manufacturer of passive optical network (PON) systems for residential access, today announced an expanded deployment agreement with The Rye Telephone Company of Colorado City, CO. Rye will deploy FiberPath 400, Optical Solutions' next-generation fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) system, to existing and future homes in the communities of Rye and Colorado City, CO.

"Rye is a long-time customer of Optical Solutions, and has had the vision of an all fiber access network for more than five years," says Brian Brown, vice president of sales and customer service at Optical Solutions. "We are very proud and pleased to be partnering with them again on their latest FTTH deployment, which is a complete PON-based communications system with unprecedented Internet data speeds, multi-line carrier class voice, and the latest in digital television. We are also very appreciative of Rye's suggestions and feedback on design functionality, which have truly reflected what a smaller ILEC [incumbent local exchange carrier] needs to better meet the requirements of its customers."

Over the next four years, Rye Telephone Company will deploy the FiberPath 400 system to existing and future homes in Rye and Colorado City. An earlier version of FiberPath, installed in 1999, currently provides voice and high-speed data service to subscribers in the Wigton subdivision and Hatchet Ranch.

"The beauty of Optical Solutions' FiberPath 400 PON-based system is that there are no active electronics to maintain, and it allows a greater signal radius between the customer premise and CO [central office]," says Rye's assistant manager, David Shipley.

The FiberPath 400 allows service providers to deliver up to 100 Mbits/sec data speeds, IP streaming media, hundreds of channels of entertainment television and multiple telephone lines. The platform transmits these services directly to the home, business and broader community via a passive optical network (PON), which allows the service provider maximum flexibility and cost-savings for construction and maintenance.

FiberPath 400 is purely optical, with no commingling of copper or coax near the customer premise, and no special wiring required within the home or business.

Rye Telephone, a family-owned independent since 1959, serves the Southeast region of Southern Colorado.