APRIL 11, 2007 -- Telco Systems (search for Telco Systems) today announced that its T5 Compact Ethernet switch product line has been accepted for use in Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) and telecommunication projects funded by the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (search for http://lw.pennnet.com/search/search.cfm?searcharea=articles&keywords=RUS).
The acceptance follows the recent announcement of the company's RUS-approved EdgeGate gateways, which provide broadband Internet access, Internet phone service (VoIP), IPTV access, and video-on-demand (VoD) to rural customers. The approval enables service providers to offer a single-source FTTH and FTTB end-to-end platform using Telco Systems' family of carrier-class IP aggregation and core routing switching platforms and CLE gateways, says the company.
"The approval of the T5 Compact is a significant step in easing the design of a total end-to-end solution for RUS funded broadband networks," contends Irit Gillath, vice president of VoIP product line management for Telco Systems. "The switch offers the capacity of physically larger backbone switches at price points associated with workgroup switching, which makes it not only cost effective, but also the ideal solution in cramped wiring closets and racks."
The T5 Compact family is a NEBS Level 3 certified routing switch that can accommodate up to 24 10/100/1000 fiber and copper circuits and four Gigabit fiber or copper uplinks in a 1.75" rack space (1 RU). The T5 Compact is ideal for applications like video and voice services where reliability is critical, as it offers a standards-based, sub-50-msec switch recovery time for link or switch failure, claim company representatives. When paired with its RUS-approved EdgeGate CLE device, Teleco Systems says the T5C offers a field proven, fully managed end-to-end FTTH platform.
Douglas County Community Network (DCCN) in Washington has been using Telco Systems' FTTH equipment since 2001. The company deploys both the EdgeGate and the T5C Gigabit Ethernet switches in its network. "The combined EdgeGate and T5C solution has performed very well in our network," reports Ben Carter, DCCN coordinator. "The solution is very reliable, resilient, and feature rich."
USDA Rural Development Telecommunications program offers many programs for financing rural America's telecommunications infrastructure and is dedicated to increasing economic opportunity and improving the quality of life in rural communities. As a venture capital entity, Rural Development has invested over $76 billion since the beginning of the Bush Administration to provide equity and technical assistance to finance and foster growth in home ownership, business development, and critical community and technology infrastructure in rural communities.
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