Pioneer Telephone Cooperative deploys Meriton Networks' High-Speed Metro Architecture to deliver broadband services

Fiber Optics Weekly Update, June 4, 2004

Largest Phone Cooperative in Oklahoma Selects Meriton For Its Flexibility, Scalability, and Interoperability

Meriton Networks Inc., the leading provider of carrier-class wavelength networking systems, and Pioneer Telephone Cooperative Inc. announced that Pioneer has successfully deployed Meriton's managed High-Speed Metro (HSM) services architecture. Pioneer is the largest telephone cooperative in Oklahoma and the third largest cooperative in the United States. Pioneer is a multi-service communications company with more than 140,000 total customers/members in 30 counties. Pioneer provides an array of communications products and services, including Cellular, DSL, Long Distance, Internet, Paging, Security Systems, Key System Sales/Maintenance, and Directory Advertisement.

The products used for Pioneer's network included Meriton Networks' 3300 OSU (Optical Services Unit), 8300 EMS (Element Management System), and 8600 NMS (Network Management System). The initial installation covered 90 miles through five central offices, allowing for a cost-effective network expansion. Future installations will follow as fiber usage grows beyond existing capabilities.

Meriton Networks provides simultaneous support of CWDM and DWDM, with a channel agnostic architecture that can scale and grow to meet the needs of a metro or regional network. Meriton's cost points showed that it was the best value of all competing offers. With the Meriton HSM Architecture, Pioneer has a fully managed, transparent network that scales seamlessly, supporting existing SONET rings without any service disruptions or re-engineering efforts.