Otelco lights rural FTTH path with Harmonic HFC upgrade

April 30, 2021
U.S. cable operator Otelco has rurally deployed Harmonic's CableOS platform in a DAA with the company's virtualized CMTS software, DOCSIS 3.1 feature set, and Ripple Remote-PHY (R-PHY) node.

Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) this week announced that U.S. cable operator Otelco is delivering gigabit speeds and a superior broadband experience to rural subscribers with Harmonic's CableOS Cloud-Native Core Platform and CableOS Central analytics service.

Benefiting from Harmonic's pioneering virtualized cable access and distributed access architecture (DAA) expertise, and upgrading to DOCSIS 3.1 technology, Otelco says it is now delivering tenfold-faster broadband speeds while establishing a path to fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) services in the future.

"It is critically important for rural communities to have fast, reliable internet access," said Josh Smith, director of operations at Otelco. Smith continued, "Harmonic provided us with a game-changing solution with proactive monitoring to deliver on our broadband connectivity promise. Since adopting the CableOS Platform, we've connected our customers with up to 10 times faster upstream and downstream bandwidth speeds, and have also significantly reduced our operational expenses by saving space, power and cooling costs."

Otelco has deployed Harmonic's CableOS Platform in a DAA with virtualized CMTS software, DOCSIS 3.1 and the Ripple Remote-PHY (R-PHY) node. During the transition to DAA, Harmonic provided Otelco with an analog overlay, enabling the operator to ensure uninterrupted analog video service delivery to subscribers, as it moves to all-IP video delivery.

Harmonic says its CableOS Central always-connected cloud management service provides Otelco with real-time, data-driven system monitoring to ensure an enhanced quality of experience for subscribers.

Harmonic's professional services team provided turnkey services, handling the end-to-end deployment including node replacement for trouble-free and accelerated project completion.

"With the CableOS Central analytics service, Harmonic is setting a new standard for assuring system reliability and availability as broadband continues to become a critical enabler in our lives," said Gil Katz, senior vice president, cable access business operations at Harmonic.

Katz added, "With proactive monitoring through the CableOS Central service, Otelco now has a direct view into the customer experience, ensuring nonstop connectivity as they bring next-gen broadband services to rural communities."

Harmonic notes its CableOS Platform powers more than 2.6 million cable modems for a growing number of cable operators worldwide, including the largest operators in the U.S. and Europe and over 25 rural broadband providers in North America. Learn more at www.harmonicinc.com.