Bonfire Fiber chooses DZS tech to bridge digital divide

DALLAS – DZS (NASDAQ: DZSI), a global leader of access, optical and cloud-controlled software defined solutions, today announced a partnership with open access innovation pioneer Bonfire Fiber (a division of Bonfire Infrastructure Group, or Bonfire) that leverages the disruptive DZS Saber-4400 coherent optical metro and edge transport platform. Aligned with Bonfire's mission to eradicate digital inequality through a superior combination of business planning, engineering, construction and fiber operations, the new partnership with DZS enables Bonfire to leverage the environmentally hardened and extraordinarily scalable Saber-4400 to bring world-class broadband to underserved communities while delivering the lowest initial capital expense (CAPEX) for each project while enabling the lowest ongoing operational expense (OPEX).

The Saber-4400 offers not just extended reach up to 120km without amplification and enhanced expandability that are ideal for middle mile transport opportunities, but also the ability to use existing or low-cost cabinets and eliminate the need for expensive, temperature-controlled enclosures. When compared with competitive solutions, service providers can realize savings ranging from approximately $20,000 to over $200,000 per site by deploying the Saber-4400, avoiding costs that range from heat exchanger upgrades or air conditioning installation to the construction of entire new pads, shelters, buildings and sites.

As Bonfire and other broadband leaders deliver next-generation broadband services at the network edge, highly flexible, massively scalable, multi-vendor, "deploy anywhere" DZS solutions like the DZS Saber-4400 are redefining the economics of middle mile and edge optical transport, enabling modular operational models that outpace traditional approaches to bridging the digital divide. Governments around the world have allocated more than $120 billion aimed at closing the digital divide. Transport solutions like the DZS Saber-4400 are both eligible and ideally suited for these programs, including the $1 billion Middle Mile Grant (MMG) program that will begin awarding grants to hundreds of U.S. based operators in the coming months and the $42.5 Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, which will begin awarding funding in mid-to-late 2023.

Read the full press release here.

DZS