Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative (PRTC), a winner of the Broadband Stimulus Award, has chosen the Calix B6 Ethernet Service Access Nodes (ESANs) and the 2000 series of optical network terminals (ONTs) to deliver broadband services to Owsley and Jackson counties in the state of Kentucky.
PRTC will install gigabit passive optical network technology to provide sophisticated services over fiber including voice over Internet protocol services, swift data services, and digital television services to over 3,500 businesses and residences. PRTC, by winning the stimulus award, obtained an overall funding of $25.5 million. The funding comprised $7.6 million loan and a $17.9 million grant that includes labor, materials, and plant engineering.
PRTC is presently deploying broadband services to businesses and homes in the Jackson County. It has already completed the first phase of the broadband project in the Owsley county. PRTC will deploy the GPON technology across Calix 2444 ONTs and B6 ESAN and deliver Media Gateway Control Protocol VOIP, sophisticated broadband services and RF video overlay to subscribers.
PRTC’s Chief Executive Officer, Keith Gabbard stated that the remoteness and rural geography of eastern Kentucky has hampered the economic development of the area. He added that the stimulus award would provide sophisticated fiber access infrastructures to businesses and homes of Owsley and Jackson counties.