FEBRUARY 17, 2010 -- MRV Communications, Inc. announced that its LambdaDriver has qualified for technical acceptance based upon the standards of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS). The LambdaDriver joins the Fiber Driver and OptiSwitch as MRV’s third product line to be certified by RUS.
The LambdaDriver is an optical transport system for building high-performance enterprise access, metropolitan carrier, and long-haul transport networks. MRV describes the LambdaDriver as a multifunctional, compact, modular WDM system that supports both DWDM and CWDM technology. The LambdaDriver series can support data rates from 8 Mbps up to 40 Gbps with future upgrades to 100 Gbps, MRV asserts.
RUS, along with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, is a lead agency for distributing $7.2 billion apportioned by Congress as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to mostly rural telecom carriers to stimulate the development of broadband infrastructure and services. The program is aimed at helping rural utilities expand and keep their technology up to date, helping establish new and vital services.
To be technically certified, equipment must meet the USDA Rural Development agency’s standards for a variety of hazards including corrosion, weather, fire, earthquake, and vandalism. This RUS endorsement means that rural independent telephone operating companies will qualify for a federal subsidization of their fiber-optic infrastructure rollouts if they deploy MRV’s LambdaDriver.
“With the RUS’s recent announcement of a second round of funding, this acceptance places MRV in a position to offer its entire Carrier Ethernet and optical transport solution for the next series of rural broadband expansions,” said Noam Lotan, CEO of MRV Communications. “By implementing the LambdaDriver, rural service providers can confidently build high-performance optical transport networks at a fraction of the cost of competing solutions to serve key community anchor institutions -- such as libraries, hospitals, community colleges, universities, and public safety institutions.”
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