Bringing gigabit speed internet connectivity to rural areas helps smaller communities become economically competitive with their metropolitan counterparts. A robust broadband network can support sustainable economic activity for communities. Better connections with fiber remove the challenge of spotty cellphone coverage in sparsely populated areas, support better access to information and online commerce for rural businesses, facilitate distance learning for students and boost tourism by providing fast connectivity for visitors.
Rural operators such as Eastern Oregon Telecom (EOT) and PocketiNet Communications are committed to bringing gigabit service to rural Oregon, but they face challenges. Cable companies compete for the same limited number of potential subscribers for broadband services. The low customer density results in a higher price per connection, making it less economically feasible to implement fiber-to-the-home services, particularly without access to ever-dwindling government subsidies.
“In the past, our customers relied on us mostly for voice transmission, but now they want our broadband networks to handle rich media for things like streaming video and e-commerce,” says Joe Franell, CEO of Eastern Oregon Telecom. “We are deploying a fiber network that not only meets our customers’ needs today, but is also ready to reliably and cost-effectively handle projected consumer demands for the next decade and beyond. We’ll be able to meet business and consumer needs with the most advanced technology from Huawei, improving overall network efficiency and user experience.”
To be successful with the fiber-to-the-home deployment, it is essential to partner with an equipment and services provider that can reduce capital expenses with the right technology and reduce operating expenses with an easy-to-use management system. EOT and PocketiNet have partnered with Huawei to provide access to intelligent ultra-broadband for the residents of rural Oregon.
EOT and PocketiNet selected Huawei as a strategic partner to provide solutions for their fiber-to-the-home network needs because it allows them to achieve on-demand deployment with a single access network. The network, built with GPON in the field, Optical Distribution Network (ODN) in the outside plant and exchange-to-exchange intelligent equipment management, is cost-effective and offers the best levels of speed, quality, simplicity and scalability.
“Offering gigabit fiber-to-the-home service in rural areas helps us effectively compete with the cable companies to attract customers,” says Todd Brandenburg, President of PocketiNet Communications. “With Huawei intelligent and ultra-broadband services, we offer our customers the ability to stream tens-of-thousands of movies and TV shows on-demand in full high-definition. The ability to give our customers content three times faster than cable, high speed internet, security and phone service gives us a great competitive advantage to capture market share.”
Providing ultra-broadband services is critical to sustaining and growing operators’ business in rural areas. Having the ability to cost-effectively deploy fiber-to-the-home services, which are equal to or better than most metropolitan areas, makes a substantial improvement on the quality of life in rural communities.
