RST Global Communications deploys Transmode's iWDM-PON to create high capacity access networks

Headquartered in Cleveland County, North Carolina, RST provides high-speed connectivity for video, data and phone services throughout North Carolina and the surrounding region. The deployment of the new networks supports RST's vision of providing high bandwidth Carrier Ethernet 2.0 (CE2.0) services to its customers, with the flexibility to simply expand to even higher bandwidth over the same infrastructure.

The first region of RST's focus will be with commercial businesses in the Ballantyne area in South Charlotte, North Carolina. RST's customers will benefit from fiber optic delivered Gigabit Ethernet services that have massive scalability and low latency for mission critical applications.

The use of iWDM-PON is part of a wider TM-Series deployment that encompasses Transmode's Native Packet Optical 2.0 capabilities and specifically the iAccess solution. This allows RST to greatly simplify the rollout and operation of new CE2.0 services using iWDM-PON to optimize the optical layer and the Ethernet and management capabilities of the iAccess solution to optimize service provisioning and ongoing operation. Furthermore, due to the flexibility of the TM-Series, both RST's local access networks and regional infrastructure are deployed from the same nodes.

Dan Limerick, President and one of the Founders of RST said "As we continue to ensure the highest speed connectivity for our customers, we strive for excellence in all areas of service provision. With Transmode's TM-Series and iWDM-PON, we have been able to guarantee Quality of Service and future-proof our network. By delivering individual future-proofed wavelengths to all business subscribers we are also providing better security with enhanced operational control and iWDM-PON gives us 4 times the capacity of 10G-EPON without any bandwidth restrictions due to shared bandwidth."

The iAccess solution used by RST is the most cost effective way for the company to scale and meet growing bandwidth requirements in the future. The solution provides highly integrated Ethernet service delivery from a Network Interface Device (NID) located at the customer premise that acts as a virtual port for the Ethernet Muxponder located in RST's local office. This enables automated service provisioning and when combined with the fully automated optical layer from the iWDM-PON creates a real plug-and-play CPE device with the scalability to expand services for anything up to 100Gbit/s.

Bjorn Andersson, Transmode's Regional Vice President Americas, commented, "We are delighted to be announcing RST as a new customer taking advantage of our iAccess solution. This demonstrates that helping operators drive down costs is a winning solution and that Transmode's iWDM-PON is an economically disruptive technology. iWDM-PON allows RST to deliver high bandwidth over high performance services with very simple installation. We look forward to supporting RST to scale the network and continue to drive down network costs."

Sten Nordell, Transmode's Chief Technology Officer, added, "It's a significant moment for WDM-PON technology to be announcing RST as a new iWDM-PON customer. The technology has undertaken a long evolution within the industry to reach its current form based on pluggable optics that can be supported in Transmode or third-party devices. The technology is now gaining market acceptance through these deployments and numerous others as well as trials and iWDM-PON continues to evolve to support a broader range of applications such as mobile fronthaul. So the technology has a bright future within optical access networks."