ALLEN, Texas -- Gila River Telecommunications, Inc. (GRTI) announced today it has deployed the Metro-Optix CityStream 5000 next generation, multi-service provisioning platform in its network. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. This agreement is the direct byproduct of the Metro-Optix CityStream 5000 optical bandwidth manager gaining "RUS Acceptance" and "Buy American" status from the Rural Utilities Service branch of the United States Department of Agriculture last September. Because Metro-Optix is on the RUS List of Acceptable Materials, it allowed GRTI to use RUS Loan Funds to purchase and deploy CityStream 5000. This key strategic win for Metro-Optix also came as a result of a required RUS bid process in which Metro-Optix beat out one large, foreign incumbent vendor and another large, well-known U.S. vendor. Based in Chandler, Ariz., GRTI was established in 1988 for the purpose of providing the Gila River Indian Community with telephone service and other telecommunications services. Today, GRTI offers customers business phone, Internet, cellular (Verizon Wireless) and satellite (Dish Network) services. "We are very pleased to be working with Metro-Optix," said Derek White, Operations Manager at Gila River. "CityStream's ATM and VT switching flexibility and port density gives us the platforms we need to grow and evolve our network so we can continue to provide our customers with economic, advanced networking." Metro-Optix Inc.