Knoxville Utilities Board to support XGS-PON rollout with Nokia IP core delivered by Lightspeed Technologies

Feb. 13, 2023

KUB announced plans in December 2021 for a multi-million-dollar FTTH deployment to bring multi-gigabit broadband to its more than 478,000 municipal customers. The project comprises a pair of phases.

Stephen Hardy

Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) has chosen LightSpeed Technologies, Inc. to deliver IP core network technology from Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to support core and middle mile infrastructure for a planned XGS-PON fiber to the home (FTTH) deployment. Lightspeed is a Nokia partner and systems integrator.

KUB announced plans in December 2021 for a multi-million-dollar FTTH deployment to bring multi-gigabit broadband to its more than 478,000 municipal customers. The project comprises a pair of phases. Phase one includes the construction of the fiber network backbone, which will run along KUB’s current electrical lines. Phase two will expand the network to additional areas and will continue until fiber is deployed across KUB’s entire electric service territory, which includes Knoxville and seven adjacent counties.

For the IP core network, Lightspeed is supplying Nokia 7750 Service Routers.

“KUB believes broadband services should be available regardless of where you live. Partnering with LightSpeed helps us to bridge the digital divide throughout the communities we serve,” adds Andrew Hmielewski, KUB Director of Fiber Operations. “We are grateful to be Knoxville’s hometown utility, and we look forward to enhancing our service capabilities and continuing to help our community grow in the years to come.”

“We were thrilled to be selected by KUB to help expand their utility services with state-of-the-art fiber broadband capabilities, further enabling KUB to provide municipality customers with affordable Internet, voice and TV services,” comments John Brannon, CEO of LightSpeed Technologies. “Our award-winning leadership, engineering, and operations team brings a wealth of experience and knowledge of XGS-PON deployments to this project. We look forward to partnering with other utilities and co-ops to add services and enhance capabilities for their customers.”

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.