Design Install

City of Sandy, Oregon taps OFS Professional Services to deploy FTTP network

June 24, 2014

The network build throughout the community of 10,000 citizens will use the OFS FOX Solution for Home and Business.

Fiber-optic network infrastructure specialist OFS says its Professional Services organization will aid the City of Sandy, Oregon, with a fiber to the premises (FTTP) deployment that will serve the community’s homes, businesses, and anchor institutions. The network build throughout the community of 10,000 citizens will use the OFS FOX Solution for Home and Business.

"We wanted to provide our community with a high capacity FTTH network utilizing an affordable, expandable network design. The OFS team, composed of applications engineers, network architects, and professional services providers, put together a complete solution. The network efficiently meets our needs and anticipates the demands on our system now and into the future," said Seth Atkinson, city manager of the City of Sandy.

The FOX portfolio Sandy will use includes OFS's AllWave+ fiber in over 200,000 feet of Fortex DT Light Armor cable and MiDia FX+ cable, the company’s ruggedized splitters, and 980 terminals from which OFS's EZ-Bend tonable drop cables will be installed to the premises. The company’s EZ-Bend 3-mm cables and EZ-Bend InvisiLight fiber will be used to make the final connection to the indoor optical network terminal (ONT).

The City of Sandy, OR, located near Portland and Mt. Hood, has provided Internet service provider (ISP) services for the past decade via “SandyNet,” that has combined fiber-based services for business, WiFi, and resold DSL. The decision to move to a wide-scale FTTP rollout follows three years of investigation into an underground fiber-optic network, a deployment scenario complicated by the need to bore optical cable pathways to more than 3200 residences.

According to an OFS press release, various options were considered, including outsourcing to local construction firms as well as a private company leasing the network and selling services back to the city. However, none of these options proved satisfactory to the city. OFS's Professional Services team created a proposal that met the city’s budget that included an efficient network design leveraging the FOX Solution for Home and Business as well as arranging financing with a business partner that offers a flexible payment schedule. The deployment plan also includes growth options for future expansion.

"It has been a great pleasure working with the City of Sandy as their leadership and staff strongly believe in the benefits of building the right FTTH network," commented Geoff Thumma, business development manager, OFS Professional Services. "Starting from their experience operating a community based wireless ISP for the past 10 years, they will fulfill their vision of a fiber connected community using new services that improve quality of life and provide a foundation for fiber fueled economic development for years to come."

More news: AT&T moves forward with municipal gigabit FTTH plan in North Carolina

About the Author

Matt Vincent | Senior Editor

Matt Vincent is a B2B technology journalist, editor and content producer with over 15 years of experience, specializing in the full range of media content production and management, as well as SEO and social media engagement best practices, for both Cabling Installation & Maintenance magazine and its website CablingInstall.com. He currently provides trade show, company, executive and field technology trend coverage for the ICT structured cabling, telecommunications networking, data center, IP physical security, and professional AV vertical market segments. Email: [email protected]