Traditional teepee houses modern technology - United Telephone Mutual Aid's and Turtle Mountain Communications' voice/data services, Fujitsu Network Communications' OC-3 Fujitsu Access/Transport System electronic equipment - Company Operations - Brief Article

Communications News, Feb, 1999

Blending into the scenery of the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in Belcourt, N.D., is a teepee, its sloped walls painted with various traditional Native American symbols. But this unique structure is actually a concrete fiber hut currently owned by United Telephone Mutual Aid Corporation and Turtle Mountain Communications. The high-tech equipment inside the teepee provides voice and data services to approximately 1,200 customers in the Rolla, N.D., telephone exchange.

Its historical appearance belies that seven of the eight sides are wall-to-wall relay racks used to mount and support electronic equipment, the newest of which is an OC-3 Fujitsu Access/Transport System (FACTR) from Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc. in Richardson, Texas. The FACTR system takes up only two of the relay racks whereas previous digital loop carrier equipment used five. The new system links the fiber hut with the telephone company's central office and combines access and SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) transport into a single, universal platform to deliver narrowband and broadband services.

Circle 258 for more information from Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc.