Broadband stimulus award winner Venture Communications Cooperative teamed up with Clearfield, Inc. (Nasdaq:CLFD) in an FTTH deployment that will serve a trio of communities in north central South Dakota and span more than 900 square miles. The project, funded in part by a $7 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband stimulus award, began in the spring and will be completed by the 4th quarter of this year.
Area businesses and residents will enjoy the benefits of high speed internet, IP video and high definition television, as well as phone, long distance, and voice messaging .The fiber deployment will cover three exchanges and more than 900 access lines in and around Faulkton, Orient and Cresband, S.D."With our rural build, you plow many miles to get to a very few customers," Venture Assistant General Manager Randy Olson said.
"Traditionally, it's been difficult getting broadband to a rural market. So, we like to say we had 'lower high speed internet' service in the past," Olson continued. "There were no video products for rural consumers and many had coax-based TV service. So our customers are really looking forward to the new services this FTTH project will bring."
An important step will be the installation of Clearfield's FieldSmart Fiber Crossover Distribution System (FxDS) as part of the central office operation. The FieldSmart FxDS frame is being used in the Faulkton FTTH deployment, while FieldSmart FxDS panels are being used in Cresband and Orient. Venture has three central offices that came about as a result of stimulus awards, and another three in their ILEC exchanges. It is deploying a Passive Optical Network (PON) with Calix.
"We did a thorough investigation of fiber management products," Olson explained. "Clearfield was the best choice for the money."