ADTRAN, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTN) says that more than a dozen utilities in the U.S. and Canada recently have selected the company’s Total Access 5000 fiber access platform to aid in the utilities’ moves into fiber-based broadband services. As is usually the case in such scenarios, the utilities are using their local presence, rights of way, and service delivery experience to provide broadband service levels superior to those of incumbent suppliers (see, for example, "Electric co-ops select PON FTTH systems from ADTRAN").
The company says its utility customer roster has increased 50% year-over-year. “Utilities have started to make a dramatic impact on those communities where fiber broadband services are not available, and we’re pleased that so many are selecting ADTRAN for their infrastructure partner on these network builds,” ADTRAN Vice President of Sales for Americas and Head of Global Business Development Craig Stein said. “Understanding that many environments demand a staged approach to modernization, we developed our broadband platform to lower the barriers to advanced technology so that these customers can address the demand for innovative services and applications.”
Among the recent customers in this category are Blue Ridge Mountain Electric Membership Corp., which offers electric and broadband services in Fannin, Towns, and Union counties in northern Georgia and Clay and Cherokee counties in southwestern North Carolina; Clarksville Connected Utilities (CCU), a municipally owned utility serving Clarksville, AR; Meeker Cooperative Light & Power Association, a member-owned cooperative that serves six central Minnesota counties; and Douglas Fast Net, a subsidiary of Oregon’s Douglas Electric Cooperative.
“When CCU built the network, we believe we did something quite unique in terms of maintaining connectivity for our internal utility purposes while also dedicating specific fibers to connect all our local anchor institutions across healthcare, government, public safety, and education — for example, the Clarksville School District has an exclusive pair of fibers around the entire core, over which we’re able to provide 10-Gbps data transport between their buildings,” CCU General Manager John D. Lester said by way of example. “Ultimately, we believe CCU’s fiber-to-the-home and -business network and our solar power initiatives will differentiate Clarksville’s economic development efforts from the crowd, growing our job base and positioning us for the Internet of Things revolution.”
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