Several IOCs, including West Carolina Rural Telephone Cooperative of South Carolina, Rural Telephone of Kansas, and Etex Communications of Texas have selected IP networking platforms from Brocade, the gearmaker announced Monday.
The companies are using Brocade’s NetIron MLX series of carrier-grade MPLS routers and the FastIron family of 10 gigabit Ethernet switches
Working with the federal government to expand advanced telecommunications in rural America, Rural Telephone in northwest Kansas took advantage of loans offered by the government’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to purchase Brocade RUS-accepted carrier solutions. This strategy has enabled Rural Telephone to build a telecom network infrastructure that provides advanced services across its 6,500-square-mile geography.
“We have seen U.S. Internet traffic double year over year, along with growing demand from our customers for the latest high triple-play offerings,” said Ron Ellis, director of operations at Rural Telephone. “In order to meet customer demands with reasonable costs, we looked to RUS for funding and Brocade to provide advanced IP-based features, carrier-grade reliability, and scalability at unmatched price-performance levels to deliver widespread customers the latest in broadband IPTV, voice and Internet services.”
Etex Communications serves customers across approximately 700 square miles of northeast Texas, delivering triple-play services over its fiber-optic network infrastructure.
“Our broad network delivers a rich blend of major communications from traditional telephone service, to broadband Internet, wireless cell phone and IPTV services for businesses and consumers,” said Charlie Cano, engineering supervisor in charge of operations for Etex. “Customer experience is our number one focus, and that requires a routing platform that blends superior performance with significantly decreased operational expenditures. Brocade’s dedicated support allowed for a smooth and seamless network upgrade, allowing us to focus on our core business and satisfying customers.”
West Carolina Rural Telephone Cooperative (WCRTC) provides a broad range of telecom services ranging from local telephone, long-distance, wireless, cable TV, Internet and data services to directory publishing. “At West Carolina Rural Telephone we provide customers with the best experience in high-definition entertainment, coupled with outstanding voice and data communication services. Therefore, it is mission-critical that our network performance, capabilities, and features are based on industry-leading technologies,” said Russell Clark, plant operations manager for West Carolina Rural Telephone Cooperative. “With Brocade’s new ability to provide everything from powerful SANs to efficient and high-performance MPLS metro routers, WCRTC is better suited to attract new customers by delivering more and higher-quality telecommunications services.”
