Adtran is fueling multi-gig fiber access in Alabama, lending its 10G technology and cloud networking software to local provider New Hope Telephone Cooperative (NHTC).
Headquartered in New Hope, Alabama – a town of roughly 2,900 residents – NHTC currently offers 1 and 2.5 gigabit broadband services in New Hope, Owens Cross Roads and the Grant Mountain area across an all-fiber network.
Specifically, NHTC is leveraging Adtran’s Mosaic software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform and its Connected Home solution, both of which are connected to a 10G fiber access platform. This technology allows the co-op to deploy XGS-PON and G-PON services on the same network, while offering a more in-depth look at a network’s usage.
“Mosaic One allows us greater visibility into our entire access network as well as the customer’s in-home experience, ensuring maximum broadband uptime for our customers,” stated NHTC General Manager David Martin. Adtran is also helping NHTC reduce truck rolls by improving the provider’s ability to remotely troubleshoot subscriber issues.
“Having access to network insights, customer trends and key marketing metrics allows us to be much more proactive in identifying network issues and customer needs,” Martin added.
Alabama has lately become a hotbed for fiber activity. Last spring, Mississippi-based C Spire invested $500 million in capital to build out its fiber network to Hoover and Homewood, Alabama. C Spire’s expansion was bolstered by its acquisition of Alabama broadband provider Troy Cablevision in December 2021.
Another Alabama fiber player is Brightspeed, which recently closed a $7.5 billion deal to acquire Lumen’s ILEC assets in 20 states. For Alabama specifically, Brightspeed is targeting 60,000 fiber passings by the end of 2023, with construction focused in nine counties. With the Lumen deal wrapped up, Brightspeed is starting from a baseline of more than 10,000 existing passings in the state.
NHTC isn’t the only provider leveraging Adtran’s technology. This summer, Ohio-based operator Horizon selected the vendor to help ease its expansion from enterprise services to residential fiber deployments.
Kurt Raaflaub, Adtran’s head of strategic solutions marketing, told Fierce in June Horizon was part of a string of customer wins, noting typically 100 operators each year choose Adtran for their fiber network.
Adtran’s work with NHTC is indicative of co-ops and electric utilities gaining prominence in the broadband space. Arkansas, Indiana and Tennessee are just a few states where co-ops and utilities have broken ground in fiber expansion.
Adtran, along with FiberRise and KGPCo, established a program last year to help investor-owned utilities, co-ops and public power companies get the funding and equipment they need to build fiber networks.