As part of its move to boost the capacity of its ring network to 100G, U.S.-based Consolidated Telephone has chosen the Smartoptics DCP-404 muxponder. Serving rural Nebraska, Consolidated has one of the least populated operating areas in the contiguous United States. The telco aims to provide equitable access to quality phone and internet services regardless of how remote the customer. The goal of the upgrade is to increase capacity in its 400-mile ring network to meet increased mobile backhaul demand.

Smartoptics produces optical networking gear with an emphasis on open standards. The DCP-404 is a Layer 1 muxponder with support for OpenZR+. It also offers QSFP-DD line support.

“Cost efficiency is essential for small carriers like us, and avoiding vendor lock-in helps us to choose and combine the networking solutions with the best return on investment and value for money,” says Mike Jones, central office manager at Consolidated. Choosing a muxponder solution provides flexibility and cost control, he says. “I get up to 400G in capacity but I can just run 100G now to bring the cost down. I’m confident that this solution will serve us well for a long time to come."

Oslo-based Smartoptics serves a customer base of enterprises, governments, cloud providers, and Internet exchanges as well as cable and telecom operators.  

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