OzarksGo Leverages ADTRAN to Grow its Fiber Network

ADTRAN®, Inc., the provider of next-generation multigigabit fiber and fiber extension broadband access solutions, today announced OzarksGo is leveraging a range of ADTRAN solutions to grow its fiber network and reach more subscribers.

It selected the ADTRAN Total Access 5000 (TA5000) 10G fiber access platform with Combo PON technology, ADTRAN Mosaic Customer Experience, Powered by Plume® and an assortment of optical network terminals and residential gateways for an end-to-end broadband access and whole-home Wi-Fi portfolio.

These solutions will enable OzarksGo to cost-effectively deliver premium internet service in rural Oklahoma and Arkansas, improve customer service and reduce subscriber churn.

OzarksGo is a telecommunications subsidiary of Ozarks Electric Cooperative, offering all-fiber Gigabit internet, premium television and telephone services. The service provider needed to expand its network with XGS-PON technology to deliver next-generation capacity to more subscribers. So, OzarksGo turned to ADTRAN and its market-leading solutions.

“We've been delivering reliable broadband services for several years. We needed a solution to maintain our quality of service while increasing capacity throughout our fiber network while improving our Wi-Fi service and subscribers' experience in the home. ADTRAN has presented technology that will help our network achieve our goals,” said Steve Bandy, General Manager at OzarksGo. “ADTRAN’s Combo PON technology provides capacity for more speed, and the whole-home Wi-Fi solution allowed for an expanded option for us.”

ADTRAN’s Combo PON technology offers OzarksGo the flexibility to deploy both Gigabit-capable PON and multigigabit rate XGS-PON on the same platform across its network. The service provider can leverage the multigigabit speeds through XGS-PON, while also delivering Gigabit-capable speeds to its most rural communities. This provides a level of flexibility and differentiation that was unattainable prior to now.

OzarksGo is leveraging RDOF funding to deliver broadband to underserved areas, so quick deployment is important in order to avoid FCC delay penalties. The service provider is now adding 800 subscribers per month to address the growing broadband demand for applications like work-from-home, remote learning and precision farming. For example, local farmers connect their equipment to OzarksGo’s internet services to increase efficiencies and boost production. Chicken farmers leverage smart houses to remotely care for and monitor the chickens’ environment.

Additionally, OzarksGo’s service area is home to manufacturing plants and offices that support some of the largest companies in the world, including the largest retail corporation in the world; one of the world’s largest chicken, beef and pork companies; and one of the largest transportation logistics companies in North America. OzarksGo’s network offers the capacity and quality of service that these businesses need at the office to keep cloud, Industrial IoT and automated systems running smoothly and customers happy, and the connectivity at employees’ homes when remote work is a must.

“ADTRAN helps any type of service provider build its best network—regardless of location or type of technology it chooses to leverage. For OzarksGo, that meant providing flexible scalability to address growing capacity needs throughout its network,” said Craig Stein, Vice President of Sales at ADTRAN. “We often find that delivering Gigabit speeds over fiber simply moves potential bottlenecks from the operator’s network into the home network. We’re able to solve that issue, too, with AI-driven whole-home Wi-Fi that constantly fine tunes the Wi-Fi environment for the best possible user experience and gives the subscriber the tools to manage their own smart home network. OzarksGo will receive fewer service calls, improve customer satisfaction and generate more revenue.”

The ADTRAN Total Access 5000 platform is the highest density 10G PON solution in the U.S. market and serves as the foundation for the industry’s most comprehensive RDOF portfolio.