PEG Bandwidth addresses mobile backhaul with MRV OptiSwitch

Mobile backhaul provider PEG Bandwidth will deploy the OptiSwitch Carrier Ethernet switching platform from MRV Communications, Inc. (OTCQB: MRVC) in a new network build, the systems house says. The new network is designed to manage a rapid increase in traffic offload and support the delivery of high-capacity Carrier Ethernet services for 3G and 4G LTE networks across the central and eastern United States.

Since its founding in 2009, PEG has installed over 1,000 miles of fiber and supports cell towers serving almost 4 million people among the communities of Dallas, Wichita Falls, Monroe, and Shreveport. To meet increased demand, PEG plans to double its fiber network’s capacity in 2012. According to Zeev Draer, vice president of strategic marketing of MRV’s Optical Communications Systems division, this includes dramatically increasing the bandwidth running to and from certain cell sites from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps.

PEG will use a combination of OptiSwitch 900 Series demarcation systems and OptiSwitch 9000 Carrier Ethernet aggregation platforms in a ring-based configuration. The advent of ITU-T G.8032 ring-based protection mechanisms has increased the popularity of such architectures for mobile backhaul, Draer says.

The OptiSwitch platforms also conform to the newly released MEF Carrier Ethernet 2.0 specifications, Draer added.

“Carrier Ethernet provides the scalability, redundancy, service creation and management features we require to support our customers’ demands,” said Chris Pickard, vice president of engineering and network architecture at PEG Bandwidth. “The compact yet powerful OptiSwitch enables seamless interoperability and visibility into customer and provider networks, and provides the capability to handle Tier 1 traffic and the reliable foundation needed for PEG to remain confident and focused on building a next-generation network.”