SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. -- World Wide Packets, a leading provider of Carrier Ethernet solutions, today announced that its LightningEdge® suite has received technical acceptance from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS). The technical acceptance, granted by the United States Department of Agriculture, authorizes independent telephone and utility companies to purchase World Wide Packets equipment with the assistance of funds from RUS grants and loans which, for many service providers, improves ROI possibilities. The LightningEdge suite was accepted for optical and copper deployments in both indoor and hardened installations.

With the RUS technical acceptance of World Wide Packets’ LightningEdge suite, the USDA has made it easier for rural communities to create high bandwidth, scalable Ethernet networks which provide triple play and advanced services. The program aims to bring the best available solutions to all communities, ensuring each receives the best possible technologies to help the community grow. With countless deployments already under its belt, World Wide Packets’ LightningEdge is a natural choice for such a program, having proven its impact on public network space time and time again. The LightningEdge suite will bring cost-effective delivery of services such as VoIP, HDTV, Video on Demand and high speed Internet up to 1GB of bandwidth to qualifying RUS providers.

The LightningEdge products receiving the RUS certification include: LE-17, LE-38SFP, LE-46, LE-42H/46H, LE-307, LE-310, LE-311/311v, LE-327, LE-427, LE-NS.

“World Wide Packets is extremely pleased to have gained technical acceptance from RUS as it demonstrates further validation of our products deployment maturity, product performance and technical strengths. We believe the LightningEdge suite offers the combined speed, scalability and capacity to assist in the deployment of a high-speed network regardless of location,” said Dave Curry, president and CEO of World Wide Packets. “The system is designed to deliver a compelling return on investment whether it be in a concrete jungle or a rural farm community, and this allows us to bring our solutions to those more diverse areas.”

World Wide Packets Inc.