Union Communications, a New Hampshire-based independent local exchange carrier (ILEC) serving 7,000 rural subscribers, has selected Pannaway Networks' (search for Pannaway Networks) carrier-grade, high-density Multi-Service Access Platform (MSAP), the MAGNM-20.

Union Communications says it is implementing the MAGNM-20 for active point-to-point (P2P) FTTH as it upgrades its existing copper network, giving subscribers more robust and reliable access to high-bandwidth triple-play services, including IPTV. (Union is a past recipient of the FTTxcellence Award, sponsored annually by Lightwave and Corning. See "FTTxcellence Award winner prepares for future".)

Union Communications, a New Hampshire-based independent local exchange carrier (ILEC) serving 7,000 rural subscribers, has selected Pannaway Networks' (search for Pannaway Networks) carrier-grade, high-density Multi-Service Access Platform (MSAP), the MAGNM-20.

Union Communications says it is implementing the MAGNM-20 for active point-to-point (P2P) FTTH as it upgrades its existing copper network, giving subscribers more robust and reliable access to high-bandwidth triple-play services, including IPTV. (Union is a past recipient of the FTTxcellence Award, sponsored annually by Lightwave and Corning. See "FTTxcellence Award winner prepares for future".)

"I can easily see the need for a 30-Mbit broadband connection in the relatively near future as our subscribers begin to stream more video content off the Internet," reports Ron Troyer, plant manager for Union Communications. "Fiber-to-the-home is clearly the best solution for our current and future needs, and Pannaway's MAGNM-20 is our platform of choice. Our MAGNM-20 installed easily and has enabled us to see an immediate improvement in performance."

Union Communications has been deploying Pannaway's BAS (Broadband Access Switch) and BAM (Broadband Access Manager), all of which are key components of the company's Ethernet/IP-based Service Convergence Network (SCN) architecture.

"Based on our positive past experience with Pannaway products and service, our selection of the MAGNM-20 platform for this pivotal fiber rollout was an easy decision," recalls Troyer. "MAGNM-20 has the scalability we need for our larger exchanges and can be managed and provisioned by Pannaway's BAM, which is clearly the easiest and most intuitive broadband management system we've ever used," he contends.

"Innovators like Union Communications understand completely that video, gaming, and music downloads are going to drive the need for a higher bandwidth services platform," adds Mark A. Carpenter, president of Pannaway Networks. "We're pleased to be selected as Union Communications' strategic partner for such an important initiative."

In one integrated system, MAGNM-20 cost-effectively scales to support a range of access technologies ranging from legacy T1 and POTS to ADSL2+, GPON, and Active P2P Ethernet subscriber connections, say Pannaway representatives. Additionally, MAGNM-20 is architected with a pure Ethernet/IP core and boasts a 922-Gbit/sec backplane.