Optical Solutions Deployed in Ohio

MINNEAPOLIS -- Fiber to the premises (FTTP) market leader Optical Solutions Inc. announced today that Bascom Mutual Telephone Company based in Bascom, Ohio is deploying its new FiberPath(R) 500 system in the area surrounding Fostoria and Tiffin, Ohio.

Bascom Mutual Telephone is located about 50 miles southeast of Toledo, and was founded as a cooperative telephone company in 1906. As a non-profit cooperative, Bascom delivers capital credits back to its customers - the company refunds any profits from the cooperative back to its customers on an annual basis.

"We can't live on dial tone alone," said Bascom Mutual Telephone General Manager Dennis Depinet. "We are excited about the opportunity to expand our revenue streams while offering advanced broadband services to our neighboring communities."

The FiberPath 500 is built on robust technology that is an industry first - it allows service providers to deploy networks using either BPON (ITU G.983, 622 Mbps downstream/155 Mbps upstream) or GPON (ITU G.984, 1.2 Gbps downstream/622 Mbps upstream) network protocols. The network protocol is software selectable.

By deploying FiberPath 500, Bascom Mutual is taking advantage of progressive legislation the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio implemented to help service providers roll out broadband services to the state's citizens. Ohio's "edge out" policy means that Bascom Mutual and other independents can easily expand their territory via a competitive overbuild and offer broadband services in a neighboring area - all without forming a separate CLEC subsidiary.

"Bascom Mutual is a great example of a cooperative telephony company rolling up its sleeves and serving their subscribers with the type of advanced services the subscribers just can't get from the incumbent," said Senior Vice President of Sales and Customer Service Brian Brown. "Bascom is investing in their network because they know the region and the needs of their population better than anyone else. By overbuilding with FiberPath 500 they can deliver what their subscribers are looking for - multi-line phone service, high quality video choices and services, and scalable high speed data in a single, integrated monthly bill."

FiberPath 500 meets the broadband needs of entire communities and is a complete equipment, networking and service solution. At the system's core is the FiberDrive(TM) Optical Line Terminal (OLT), with a field-proven integrated GR-303/TR-08 voice gateway for interface directly to all the commonly deployed Class 5 switches. The FiberDrive has the highest network capacity in the industry, offering more than 9 Gigabits of bandwidth. The FiberDrive is located in the Central Office (CO), where voice, video and data signals are converted into optical light signals. These are transported through the passive optical network (PON) to the FiberPoint(TM) Optical Network Terminal (ONT) unit installed at the subscriber's residence or business. The FiberPoint 524 residential ONT offers 4 POTs lines, 10/100 BaseT and 1 CATV port. The FiberPoint 560 business unit allows great flexibility in serving business subscribers, with up to 20 POTS lines, 4 10/100 BaseT Ethernet, 8 T1s and 4 CATV ports.

Optical Solutions Inc.