Montana Gets First FTTH

MINNEAPOLIS -- Fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) market leader Optical Solutions Inc. is working with Vivid Networks and Big Sky Communication to deploy the first fiber-to-the-home network in Montana. The new network will deliver converged voice, high-speed data and video services to more than 1000 residents and businesses in the Baxter Meadows development in Bozeman."Baxter Meadows is the first 'fiber powered' community in Montana, and it will truly be a world class place to live and work," said Brock Williams, president of Vivid Networks. Vivid, a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) based in Billings, is deploying the network in Baxter Meadows, 150 miles west of Billings.Vivid Networks is partnering with Big Sky Communication, a FTTH integrator, to oversee and implement the project. "FiberPath is the best, most proven access technology in the marketplace, and Optical Solutions is the PON vendor with the most experience and deployments in the country," said Shane Linse, president of Big Sky.Vivid Networks has already started construction of the FiberPath® 400 fiber-to-the-home network, which uses a passive optical network (PON) architecture to deliver converged voice, video and data services from a central office to a customer premise. Once service is initiated, each subscriber will receive high-speed data service, multiple phone lines and hundreds of analog and/or digital cable-TV channels. The first phase is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2003.Optical Solutions Inc.