Nokia today announced an agreement with the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) to aid and expedite its member companies’ broadband service rollouts and expansions. Under the terms of the agreement, Nokia will provide NCTC members with tailored fiber solutions and access to premier service programs. Unique in the industry, the Nokia solution also enables a simple upgrade path to 25Gb/s, the company contends.
NCTC is a Kansas-based, not-for-profit corporation that operates as a programming, broadband solutions and hardware purchasing organization for its member companies who own and operate cable systems throughout the U.S. and its territories. NCTC represents more than 700 cable and broadband operators in all 50 United States and its territories. Its members serve approximately 15 million consumers with broadband service across 3,000+ communities, many of which are smaller and located in rural areas.
Several NCTC members had winning bids in the Phase I Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction, receiving awards to bring high speed fixed broadband service to rural homes and small businesses that lack it. In addition to the urgency to provide better connectivity to rural communities, COVID-19-related societal and behavioral shifts are forcing operators to greatly accelerate network upgrades. Nokia says its fiber solution will enable NCTC members to efficiently boost network capacity from 2.5Gb/s to 10Gb/s and beyond as needed.
As explained by the company:
With more capacity on the same fiber, operators can better monetize their networks and address multiple customer segments including residential, enterprises, and wireless operators, along with service wholesalers, in urban, suburban and rural areas. Nokia’s solution also helps NCTC members’ seamless transition towards network automation and management with cloud-native Software-Defined Networking solutions which provide the flexibility to scale networks while reducing cost and effort.
Nokia claims it "is a recognized leader in fiber broadband with approximately seven out of every 10 fiber homes in the U.S. served by Nokia solutions." The company recently announced reaching the significant milestone of 100 million shipped PON fiber broadband lines globally.
“This marks the beginning of a partnership that will greatly benefit NCTC members and their customers as demand for higher performing broadband is growing faster than ever before,” said Sandy Motley, President, Nokia Fixed Networks division. “In addition to our family of PON products built on our in-house designed chipset, we expect our agreement will expand to include a full range of fixed and wireless network solutions. NCTC members now have ready access to Nokia’s extensive team of experienced professionals, capable of supporting any type of network expansion and upgrade challenges.”
“On behalf of our members, we are very excited to establish a partnership with a technology leader like Nokia,” concluded Rob Smith, Senior Director of Procurement, NCTC. “Nokia is the only NCTC partner that currently offers a 25G symmetrical PON solution, and its complete wired and wireless service portfolio is cutting edge. Nokia is clearly committed to our membership and to enabling their success. We look forward to a productive and beneficial partnership for decades to come.”
To learn more, visit www.nokia.com and www.nctconline.org.