Bolt Fiber Optic Services, the fiber-to-the-home subsidiary of Northeast Oklahoma Electric Cooperative has contracted with Alcatel-Lucent to install GPON for triple-play service delivery.
The system will ultimately be able to deliver broadband at up to 1 Gbps, in addition to third-party VoIP and television services to Bolt Fiber’s 30,000 cooperative members in rural northeastern Oklahoma. The service area of Bolt’s new network will encompass rural communities, tribal areas and a lake resort area.
The 1 gigabit service will begin in the fourth quarter of 2014 and is scheduled for completion by April, 2017. The project is being funded in part through the Rural Utility Service (RUS).
Alcatel-Lucent said it is providing its 7360 Intelligent Services Access Manager, 5520 Access Management System, Triple Play Express and Video Systems Integration solutions.
Alcatel-Lucent is also the systems integrator for the project, responsible for architecture, design, engineering and installation services and third party solutions for the headend, OSS/BSS, fiber mapping, and Mediaroom middleware and software for IPTV services.
Sheila Allgood of Bolt said,“The legacy of the rural electric cooperatives is that of bringing vital utilities to underserved communities. In the 20th century the need was for electricity and today the need is for high-speed, high-capacity broadband. Providing access to ultra-broadband will attract jobs and investment, improve lives through services like telemedicine and e-learning, and allow families to stay in the communities they love. When we first started looking at the scope of the ultra-broadband project we knew we would need to rely upon expertise that we did not have. Fortunately for us, Alcatel-Lucent demonstrated both their ability and also a strong desire to help bring ultra-broadband to north-eastern Oklahoma.”
Alcatel-Lucent’s GPON technology has previously been purchased by EPB Chattanooga, Bristol Tennessee Essential Services, Hong Kong Broadband Network, and ZON Multimedia in Portugal.