Blackfoot Telecommunications Group has selected Occam's BLC 6000 platform to deliver voice, video, and high-speed data services

February 23, 2004

2 Min Read

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Occam Networks Inc. (OTCBB: OCCM), a supplier of innovative Ethernet and IP-based loop carrier equipment to telecommunications companies worldwide, today announced that The Blackfoot Telecommunications Group has selected its BLC 6000 platform, a complete loop carrier system that uses Ethernet and Internet Protocol (IP) as core transport and service protocols, to deliver voice, video and high-speed data services to residential and business subscribers.

Blackfoot will deploy the BLC 6000s over a three-year period as they evolve their existing SONET network to an all IP services transport network.

“We began the drive to a next-generation, standards-based IP/Ethernet network two years ago with the ultimate goal of delivering every service over IP,” said Dave Martin, Blackfoot network manager. “Rather than wait for a service requirement to force us to modernize, we decided to get ahead of the curve. It was clear that a network built using a native IP architecture would be simpler to build and manage, as well as more cost-effective.”

Blackfoot chose the Ethernet-based BLC 6000 over products from a variety of vendors because it met their IP/Ethernet requirements and could be integrated smoothly with the company’s existing switches. The BLC 6000 enables Blackfoot to centralize interfaces and deploy services anywhere in its network. Another factor in the selection was the BLC platform’s Ethernet Protection Switching (EPS), which will provide failover protection in certain geographic locations where Blackfoot does not have full fiber rings.

“The BLC has a very elegant and graceful architecture that will enable us to deliver new services and grow our subscriber base easily and cost-effectively,” according to Martin. “An Ethernet/IP network is much cheaper to install and maintain and promises to help us maintain a competitive edge now and into the future.”

Blackfoot plans to upgrade more than 20 remote sites over the next three years with BLC 6000. To date, the BLC platform has been installed in three locations and is delivering IP voice service to their subscribers.

“The installation of the first two BLC 6000s went flawlessly,” Martin continued. “We installed them and turned up service in only 1.5 days, less than half the time it would have taken with our previous loop carriers.”

During the initial phase of the BLC 6000 deployment, Blackfoot will deliver voice and broadband data to its residential and business subscribers. As the deployment progresses they plan to add streaming Internet video and/or TelcoTV to their service offerings.

“Blackfoot is known in the industry as a thought leader,” said Russ Sharer, vice president of sales and marketing for Occam Networks. “We are pleased that such a progressive organization has selected our products to help them meet the challenges of growing competition over the next five years.

Occam Networks Inc.

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