Rural local exchange carrier (RLEC), Lumos Networks will begin offering 10-gigabit service in Virginia. Lumos is working with ADTRAN using its 10-gig service portfolio and expects the service to be available commercially within the first quarter of this year.
Waynesboro, Clifton Forge, Covington, and Botetourt County will be the first four communities to get the 10-gig service. Lumos says it plans to expand its service area over time.
In addition to its 10-gig access, Lumos will be using ADTRAN’s software-defined access (SD-Access) architecture to scale its services. In an interview with CivSource Lumos Networks SVP and General Manager Diego Anderson said that the software will help the company continue its network evolution.
“When we started delivering fiber-to-the-premises in 2006 we were offering something like 25mbps, from there we moved up to 1-gig and now with 10-gig service, software-defined access is helping us maintain the user experience while we work on network improvements. We expect that it will play a bigger role as we work through our edge-out strategy,” Anderson said.
Anderson adds that by moving to 10-gig service Lumos is planning for future demand and hopes to support growing uses for high bandwidth networking like telemedicine and enterprise management. “With this, we’re going to be able to bring service to rural parts of Virginia that rivals what is being offered in larger metropolitan areas, which is significant,” he said.
Alongside the Lumos announcement, ADTRAN rolled out a comprehensive software-only Connect America Fund (CAF) performance test offering aimed at helping service providers meet FCC compliance changes for Connect America funds slated to start on July 1, 2019. The performance testing solution also accommodates those service providers looking to meet the Alternative Connect America Cost Model (A-CAM) requirements. The standards-based software runs on any TR-069 compliant device, including xDSL, Ethernet, DOCSIS, PON, and LTE WAN gateways.
