MAY 28, 2009 -- Bristol Virginia Utilities (BVU) has selected Infinera (search Lightwave for Infinera) for the metro optical network that supports its broadband services for Bristol, Abingdon, and surrounding areas in southwest Virginia.
BVU is one of the few public utilities in the U.S. that has built a fiber-to-the-premises network offering the triple-play of telephone, television, and broadband Internet services. The City of Bristol was recently named one of the top seven "most intelligent communities" worldwide by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), an independent think tank that studies economic and social developments for the 21st century.
BVU is a 64-year-old, city-owned utility that provides electricity, water, fiber-optic broadband services, to a 125 square mile area including the city of Bristol. It began to offer a fiber-based triple-play package in 2003, in order to provide all its residents with a high-speed broadband option, and to use advanced communications services to lure more industry to the region. The network includes a 250-ile fiber backbone. Consumers can choose from a menu of high-speed broadband services that range from 2 Mbps up to 16 Mbps. Business customers can purchase multi-gigabit services including Internet, transparent LAN, and high-capacity local access loops.
With consistent bandwidth growth, BVU needed a system that could respond quickly to spikes in demand and customer growth. "Infinera's simplicity, flexibility, and raw capacity have played an important role in the services we offer our customers. It has been very valuable in helping us deliver services to existing commercial customers, and compete effectively for economic development projects within the state of Virginia," said Mark Lane, BVU's CTO.
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