January 24, 2006 San Jose, CA -- Twin Valley Telephone, an ILEC located in central Kansas, has chosen Allied Telesyn's iMAP integrated multiservice access platform to expand the capability of its copper plant to a hybrid fiber infrastructure. According to a press release, the infrastructure is being implemented to support 13 new exchanges the ILEC will take possession of this February and March as a result of an acquisition from Sprint.
According to Allied Telesyn, the 100-Mbit FTTH delivery network will be deployed on a 36-month schedule, which began in December 2005. The network will support both active Ethernet and passive GEPON protocols over the company's 10-Gbit transport platform, to bring converged voice, video, and data service to more than 6,400 subscribers. The deployment will expand the network from 850 sq. mi. to more than 2400 sq. mi. of service area. The fiber infrastructure will replace an aging copper plant and its legacy air-core cabling.
"We were confident in our recommendation to Twin Valley to select the iMAP for four basic reasons," explains Brian LeCuyer of RVW Inc., the network's architect. "The technical capability of the product; the experience Allied offers in this technology, and its broad product line; the size and stability of Allied as a company, and the fact that they came in at a cost that worked for us."
According to a press release, Allied Telesyn's iMAP platform was installed into the ILEC's new locations throughout January; the ILEC says it looks forward to "a rolling cut-over of the exchanges" in late February and early March of this year.
According to Allied Telesyn, the RUS-accepted, NEBS-certified iMAP system is an environmentally-hardened access platform that delivers carrier-class next-generation and traditional telco services over IP infrastructure. The system is designed to accommodate both fiber and copper-based deployments in a single platform. Suitable for new access deployments and upgrades, the platform's modular chassis design simultaneously supports a variety of applications including IP access, Ethernet transport, and network aggregation.
Twin Valley will deploy its ADSL2+ and FTTH network using Allied Telesyn's iMAP 9700 system in conjunction with the company's Layer 3 Ethernet/IP switch platforms, which will be used to inject video streams into the transport ring. The head-end and access equipment will be complemented by the company's iMG-646 intelligent Multiservice Access Gateways at customer premises locations.
"Allied has gone to a lot of effort to help us meet our deadlines," says Ben Foster, Twin Valley's operations director. "They've expedited some emergency equipment needs and have gone the extra mile to keep us on schedule."
Twin Valley Telephone says it has been a pioneer in IP broadband services, offering DSL broadband access to its customers since 1997. The ILEC, which started as a family-run enterprise in 1947, says it has owned and operated its own Minerva video head end since 2003, offering 150 channels of digital television to its current 2000-customer base.
"We are proud to be serving Twin Valley with our iMAP and iMG products for a converged broadband IP access solution," concludes Philip Yim, Allied Telesyn's executive vice president of marketing and product development. "Because iMAP provides service over all OSP infrastructures using the latest in Ethernet/IP standardized, field-proven protocols, carriers can be assured they are deploying the latest technologies with a carrier-class platform that ensures the integrity of the network and enables new revenue generating services."