Press Releases

DALLAS, October 8, 2007 - Actelis Networks®, the leading global supplier of Carrier Ethernet over Copper™ solutions, today announced at COMPTEL PLUS Fall 2007 Convention & EXPO that Farmers Mutual Telephone Cooperative (FMTC) has deployed Actelis’ Carrier Ethernet over Copper solution to deliver high-speed Internet and Voice-over-IP (VoIP) services over its voice-grade copper facilities. Actelis supplied FMTC with its ML628 Ethernet Access Devices (EADs) and awardwinning EFMplus™ technology, enabling the independent telecommunications company headquartered in Shellsburg, Iowa, to provide high-speed DSL and VoIP services to residential subscribers in eastern Iowa who, until now, have not been able to receive advanced telephony services due to their geographic location.

“Because a large majority of our customers live in rural farmland country and are dispersed over a wide geographic area, we are using Actelis’ carrier Ethernet solution to feed wireless towers and then backhauling the canopy traffic to our network through remote DSLAM cabinets,” said Mark Harrison, general manager at FMTC. “This allows us to efficiently and costeffectively deliver DSL and VoIP services to valued residential customers who have been out of reach.”

Compatible with carrier Ethernet switching equipment, Actelis’ ML628 EAD provides basic bandwidth management and Quality of Service (QoS) at the edge, providing a significant boost to the bandwidth capacity of FMTC’s copper access network. Powered by Actelis’ EFMplus technology, the rate and reach are increased significantly using advanced dynamic spectrum management techniques. This patented, field-proven technology delivers the best rate and reach performance, along with resilient fiber-quality transmission, ensuring carrier-class reliability for FMTC and its customers.

“To meet the growing requirements placed on their network, Actelis is pleased to provide Farmers with a pragmatic carrier Ethernet solution, which we believe will future-proof their nextgeneration network for years to come,” said Mehmet Balos, president of worldwide marketing, sales and services at Actelis.

With their ML628 EADs deployed, the member-owned telephone cooperative is now pushing 10 Mbps of advanced data services over two pair of bonded-copper wire to residential customers, according to FMTC Plant Manager Mitch Kuhn. Actelis’ ML628 EAD is capable of delivering up to 45 Mbps of resilient, symmetrical Ethernet traffic with fiber-like quality over eight bonded-copper pairs.

“We have received positive feedback from customers complementing us on the increased speed and service offerings,” said Kuhn, who commented that he was able to turn-up FMTC’s new carrier Ethernet system in just a few hours with the help of an Actelis customer service technician. “The Actelis Ethernet access equipment has performed exceptionally well in very harsh outdoor environments this summer. We beta-tested the new system for nearly a month before deploying in July, and since that time, it has been running flawlessly.”

About FMTC
Farmers Mutual Telephone Cooperative of Shellsburg provides advanced voice, video and highspeed Internet services to communities in eastern Iowa, including Shellsburg, Alburnett, Robins, Urbana, Center Point, Central City, Coggon and Ryan. For more information, visit www.usacomm.coop.