Development Authority of the North Country selects Infinera for optical network upgrade

The Development Authority of the North Country has selected an Infinera Digital Optical Network for a middle-mile project upgrade in Upstate New York. The upgrade is expected to deliver the benefits of broadband with speed, flexibility, and cost-effective scalable bandwidth to carriers, public, and private institutions, as well as to enable greater competition and greater broadband penetration in the region.

The Authority won a $20 million broadband stimulus grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) in the first round of stimulus funding. The Authority operates a network in northern New York State designed to bring broadband connectivity to rural areas, small towns, and major U.S. Army base Fort Drum. Stimulus funds will help the Authority extend its existing network with added diversity and new routes to better serve existing customers and offer broadband connectivity to new customers in the northeastern part of the state, including the Adirondack Mountains region. When complete, the Authority’s Open Access Telecom Network will consist of more than 1,250 miles of fiber network.

Based on a competitive bid process and extensive evaluation, the Authority chose an Infinera Digital Optical Network for its speed, flexibility, and scalability. The Authority will also benefit from an Infinera network’s digital features, including point-and-click provisioning and the Digital ROADM capability. Infinera’s Bandwidth Virtualization supports the delivery of bandwidth and services between any two points on the network, and the delivery of end-to-end Digital OTN services.

“We are excited about the new services and economic development opportunities we’ll be able to offer the North Country region,” says David Wolf, Authority telecommunications general manager. “We will offer a wide range of services quickly, deliver world-class, high-speed broadband to local business and institutions, help attract new industries, and offer advanced services like telemedicine and distance learning on our network.”

“We are pleased to support the Authority in bringing world-class broadband services to northern New York State to help the region compete more effectively in today’s economy,” explains Infinera CEO Tom Fallon. “The Infinera Digital Optical Networks architecture supports broadband stimulus networks with a long-term network solution that is simple, fast, and flexible.”

The Infinera family of optical solutions includes: the Infinera DTN, the first optical networking system based on large-scale photonic integrated circuits, and the Infinera ATN, a compact metro edge platform that extends the benefits of Infinera’s Digital Optical Networks to the metro edge.