Occam Networks announced three new independent operating companies (IOCs) customers in Iowa: Long Lines, Partner Communications Cooperative and Western Iowa Telephone. All three IOCs are deploying new access networks that use a softswitch architecture.
Gilman, Iowa-based Partner Communications Cooperative worked with Goldfield Telecom, an IP equipment supplier based in Iowa, to select and install the Occam BLC 6000 System. Partner has plans to deploy the BLC in two COs and in four remotes. Partner has completed the first phase turning up the BLC to deliver POTS and ADSL2Plus services to subscribers in the Gilman and Kellogg, Iowa, exchanges. The cooperative plans to incorporate the BLC with its MetaSwitch VP3510 Series Class 4/5 Softswitch along with its Lucent 5ESS VCDX traditional switch. Using the BLC, the IOC has also built a redundant fiber ring between Gilman, Kellogg and State Center, Iowa running H.248.
Long Lines is using Occam’s BLC 6000 System to deliver POTS and DSL over its existing copper lines. The Sergeant Bluff, Iowa-based IOC has the Occam BLC 6000 deployed in its Central Office (CO) as a central office terminal (COT) and in five remote cabinets. Long Lines has been delivering service from one of the five remote sites for more than six months. The carrier plans to install Occam BLCs in additional remotes over the next few years as it overbuilds the existing copper infrastructure in neighboring towns it serves as a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC).
Western Iowa Telephone is in the process of replacing its current digital loop carriers with the Occam BLC 6000 System and has deployed the BLC 6000 in its CO and seven remotes to date. Before selecting the Occam BLC, the IOC had transitioned its TDM architecture to a softswitch-based network. Currently Western Iowa uses IP to transport traffic from its remote cabinets to its MetaSwitch VP3500 Series Class 5 Softswitch.
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