6 October 2003 Bothell, WA Lightwave--Allied Telesyn, a provider of Ethernet networking equipment for the access edge, today announced that its RG223 Residential Gateway has been chosen as the customer premises equipment in the Phase I rollout of fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) services for UTOPIA, the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency. Covering Salt Lake City and 17 surrounding cities that encompass some 250,000 households and 35,000 businesses, UTOPIA is one of the largest fiber-to-the home (FTTH) and fiber-to-the-business (FTTB) project launched to date.
"This is one of the most significant fiber-to-the-premises deployments in the world right now, and it's a major win for Allied Telesyn," said Matt Davis, director of Broadband Access Technologies with the Yankee Group. "Allied Telesyn has entered the broadband access arena with a group of products focused on enabling the triple play of voice, video and data. This win proves that the company can enter these markets on the basis of its technology, global presence, customer support, and pricing."
In the first phase of the UTOPIA project (scheduled to begin in early 2004), project consultant DynamicCity will oversee deployment of an all-fiber network to as many as 15,000 homes and businesses. Once Phase I is completed, the project will expand to include tens of thousands of other homes and businesses in the area.
"As the largest last-mile fiber project in the world, UTOPIA attracted bids from virtually every vendor involved in the FTTx market," said Joel Sybrowsky, executive vice president of Dynamic City. "Out of more than 80 firms bidding on the electronics portion of the project, Allied Telesyn stood out as the access portal vendor with the best feature set at the best price. We believe that Allied Telesyn's advanced technology and commitment to triple play products and services made them the right choice."
UTOPIA was founded to rapidly improve business and residential telecommunications services throughout Utah by providing a publicly owned core fiber infrastructure over which retail telecommunications can be delivered. UTOPIA will wholesale fiber network capacity to service providers, delivering 100/1000 Mbit/sec edge connectivity through a 5.6-Terabyte core switched network fabric.
"Our goal is to deliver a robust fiber infrastructure that will bring the world's most advanced telecommunications services to the people and businesses of Utah," said Roger Black, chief operating officer of UTOPIA. "Last-mile fiber is the only way to deliver all current and future services, and DynamicCity and vendor partners like Allied Telesyn will give us the network we need to accomplish our mission."
Allied Telesyn's RG223 Residential Gateway distributes traditional voice and multiple IP-based services throughout a home, including broadband Internet access, voice over IP (VoIP), broadcast television, and video on demand. The RG223 features two analog phone ports, three 10/100 Ethernet LAN ports, and supports IGMP for secure and efficient multicast video. The RG223 is just one of the fiber networking products in Allied Telesyn's Triple Play Solutions portfolio, which also includes products for DSL, Layer 3 aggregation, and core networking.
About UTOPIA
Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency, a Utah interlocal agency dedicated to accelerating economic development and quality of life for its citizens and businesses by deploying a publicly owned advanced telecommunications network over the last mile to all homes and businesses within member communities. UTOPIA's 18 founding cities are Brigham City, Cedar City, Cedar Hills, Centerville, Layton, Lindon, Midvale, Murray, Orem, Payson, Perry, Riverton, Roy, Salt Lake City, South Jordan, Taylorsville, Tremonton, and West Valley City. Approximately one third of Utah's population lives in cities encompassed by the current boundaries of the UTOPIA project, allowing for significant potential expansion.