About 4,200 residents in and around Sycamore, Ohio, are getting state-of-the-art fiber-fed broadband services thanks to a $4.1 million fiber to the home upgrade that Sycamore Telephone undertook using broadband stimulus funding awarded by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
The carrier's target audience, in addition to the rural residents, includes 450 local businesses and 14 community anchor institutions in the area, according to a press release issued by equipment supplier ADTRAN (Nasdaq: ADTN).
The two-year upgrade was completed in October 2012.
"Broadband technology is the key economic enabler of our society today and it is critical that the rural communities that we service are a part of that modern infrastructure," Rick Ekleberry, broadband operations manager at Sycamore Telephone Company said in the press release. "We have not only maximized our investment and future revenue opportunities, but have also provided our residents with the best of both worlds--advanced communications services in the rural lifestyle that is so important to them."
ADTRAN is providing a portfolio of equipment to help Sycamore deploy what the news release described as "a high capacity fiber access network that easily scales to handle the most bandwidth-intensive services, including IPTV, Voice-over-IP (VoIP) and high-speed Internet at ultra-broadband speeds."
In fact, the two players boasted, "Sycamore has deployed the most modern next-generation network in the area, outpacing nearby larger cities in Northern Ohio."
The upgrade gives Sycamore Telephone and advantage in its local market "that not only provides their subscribers with the most modern technologies and services available but also allows them to remain competitive with the large cable MSOs vying for the same business," said Mitch Fleming, vice president of sales for ADTRAN's carrier networks division.
For more:
- see this press release
- and this earlier Sycamore Telephone release
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