Riverstone's carrier Ethernet routers receive USDA RUS listing
March 17, 2005 Santa Clara, CA -- Riverstone Networks, a provider of carrier Ethernet networks, has received USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) listing for both its RS and Riverstone 15000 product lines. The company is the first vendor of MPLS-based Ethernet routers to do so, according to a press release. RUS listing permits independent operating companies and rural local exchange carriers to deploy products using RUS Broadband loan and grant programs.
"This listing is critical, providing smaller service providers with equal access to best-in-class technology that can easily be scaled up or down to meet their network needs," asserts Dan Middleton, VP of North American sales for Riverstone Networks. "Moreover, it provides them with the infrastructure necessary to deliver a combination of quality voice, video, and data services."
The RUS loan program is designed to increase the rate of broadband deployments to communities of up to 20,000 inhabitants, ensuring that rural consumers enjoy the same range of communications services that are available in urban and suburban communities. The program provides funding critical to the economic welfare of smaller communities by helping rural service providers deliver the high-caliber broadband connectivity needed for these communities to attract and retain jobs.
"Even though life in a small town might be slower, that doesn't mean the Internet has to be," continues Middleton.
A member of the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council, Riverstone is an active participant in the U.S. municipal broadband movement. The company's products comprise the Ethernet routing infrastructure for the UTOPIA project in Utah, which according to the release is the nation's largest planned independent FTTH deployment.
"Broadband connectivity is a big issue for the nation's 1,000 rural operators, and naturally many are looking to Ethernet as a solution," concludes Michael Howard, principal analyst at Infonetics Research. "By listing Riverstone's MPLS Ethernet routers, RUS opens the door for these operators to use special funding to take advantage of this solution, which can give them the ability to not only offer more broadband-intensive services, but to do so over a less costly and potentially converged infrastructure."