Horizon Telcom selects Fujitsu, Juniper Networks, and Calix to assist with network construction for Connecting Appalachia project
Horizon Telcom has selected Fujitsu Network Communications Inc., together with Fujitsu partners Juniper Networks (U.S.) Inc. and Calix Inc., to help deliver an advanced broadband communications networks to southern and eastern Ohio. The new network, to be constructed through 34 counties, is part of the Connecting Appalachia federally-funded stimulus project awarded to Horizon in 2010.
“Horizon is very proud that our vision for bringing the latest technology in fiber broadband deployment to Appalachian Ohio will be made possible through our partnership with Fujitsu, Calix, and Juniper,” says Joe Corbin, Horizon vice president of operations. “The choice was very clear based on their industry-leading collaboration and the joint delivery of best-of-breed network products, which will enable a network architecture servicing Horizon customers with premier levels of broadband service well into the future.”
In addition to Fujitsu’s full Master Network Integration turnkey system, Horizon will leverage the Fujitsu Richardson solutions lab for interoperability testing of the end-to-end system prior to network deployment. Horizon’s offering also relies on the Fujitsu Flashwave 9500 Packet Optical Networking Platform (Packet ONP), which provides the ability to deliver Layer 2 services across an optical backbone.
“We are honored to be selected for this opportunity to work with Horizon who is leveraging our multi-vendor network integration expertise and network operations center capabilities along with our optical networking technology,” notes Greg Manganello, senior vice president of services at Fujitsu Network Communications. “Juniper Networks and Calix bring their own market-leading technology to the project, resulting in a best-in-class, multi-layer communications infrastructure for the citizens and businesses of southern and eastern Ohio.”
Horizon plans to deploy Juniper Networks’ MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers to increase total network capacity, while reducing operational costs and accelerating delivery of advanced broadband services. Powered by the Junos Trio chipset and Junos operating system, Juniper's MX 3D products address enterprise and service provider needs for more flexible technology and business models. With total capacity of up to 2.6 terabits per second, the MX Series enables Horizon to support intelligent edge services, while building in long-term scalability and flexibility that can support new and emerging bandwidth-intensive applications in the future, says a representative.
Calix lends its extensive expertise in the access portion of the network and its Unified Access portfolio. To bring high-capacity broadband services to the approximately 600 regional community anchor institutions targeted by the project, Horizon plans to deploy the EXA Powered Calix E7-2 Ethernet Service Access Platform (ESAP) and 700GX/GE family of Optical Network Terminals (ONTs). The E7-2 ESAP is a one rack unit (RU) two-slot chassis with 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) available to each slot, and was architected with a focus on fiber access, Ethernet services, and future ultra high-capacity bandwidth needs. The E7-2 can deploy any mix of GPON, point-to-point Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), or Active Ethernet (AE), and 10GbE transport for business and residential services.
Federal funding for the new fiber-optic broadband network connecting Ohio’s Appalachian counties was awarded to Horizon in July 2010. This $66.4 million Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program (BTOP) stimulus grant, awarded by the National Telecommunications Infrastructure Administration (NTIA), will fund 70% of the $94.9 million project, with Horizon providing the remaining 30%. Construction of the project is expected to begin this summer.