Published: December 08, 2010
Occam Networks Selected By Broadband Stimulus Winners Benton Ridge Telephone and C-M-L Telephone Cooperative to Deliver Advanced Broadband Services
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Occam
Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCNW), announced today that Benton
Ridge Telephone Company and C-M-L
Telephone Cooperative have chosen the BLC
6000 multiservice access platform (MSAP) to bring IPTV and other
high-speed services to their respective regions. Using a combination of
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Broadband Infrastructure Program
(BIP) grants and loans totaling almost $3.5M, Benton Ridge plans to
offer 100 Mbps data, video and voice services to underserved residential
customers in the northwest area of Ohio. C-M-L will use its $1.5M BIP
grant to build a high-speed fiber network that can deliver today's
advanced services to residents and businesses in Northwest Iowa with the
ability to expand its service delivery area in the future.
"There's a real community excitement at the prospect of bringing
advanced broadband services such as IPTV to the area," said Bruce
Johnson, President and CEO of C-M-L Telephone Cooperative. "When we
found we had been awarded stimulus funds, we naturally turned to Occam
as our access partner for the deployment. We had chosen Occam for our
previous FTTH deployments and had found that an Occam-powered Active
Ethernet network had a lot more firepower than anything else we had used
in the past. Because of our good experience with Occam and their
excellent customer service, it was natural for us to work with them
again on this latest project."
In addition to serving residential customers, Johnson also noted that
the new high-speed network will greatly benefit small business owners in
the area, many of whom work directly out of their homes. Local
construction firms will tap into the network to send plans back and
forth to partners and contractors. Additionally, other businesses, such
as a local grain elevator company, can leverage the higher performance
network for more efficient communications between its satellite offices.
Benton Ridge Telephone, another Broadband Stimulus recipient, plans to
use the funds to extend high-speed services outside of the cities in its
serving area to rural communities that do not currently have access to
wireline broadband.
"Throughout our 100-year history, we have consistently demonstrated our
ability to incorporate and adapt new technological advances to better
serve our customers, " said Rick Rostorfer, Telephone Systems Manager at
Benton Ridge Telephone. "This award enables us to bring the rural areas
up to speed, providing subscribers with the opportunity to improve their
quality of life through better access to resources. When it came down to
choosing an access supplier partner, we chose Occam because we were 100
percent satisfied with its serviceability and performance. When you have
a solution that works that well, you definitely stick with it."
"Benton Ridge and C-M-L have the experience, commitment and now with
broadband stimulus funding, the resources needed to ignite growth and
development in rural communities," said Juan Vela, Director, Solutions
Marketing and Strategy for Occam Networks. "As a long-standing partner
to both companies, we have worked with these service providers to stay
ahead of their requirements with the products and technologies that will
address the needs of their subscribers while protecting their investment
over the coming years. We look forward to serving them in the future as
they address the twin challenges of expanding their subscriber base and
service offerings."
About Occam Networks, Inc.
Occam Networks' broadband access solutions empower service providers to
offer profitable new voice, data and video services over copper and
fiber. Occam systems deliver flexibility and scalability in a Triple
Play world. Over 3 million BLC 6000 ports are currently deployed at over
380 service providers worldwide. For more information, please visit www.occamnetworks.com.
Cautionary Note About Forward-Looking Statements
Portions of this press release may contain forward-looking statements
regarding future events or the future performance of Occam Networks,
including statements predicting increased adoption of products and
technologies offered by Occam and the willingness and ability of our
customers to purchase additional Occam products and upgrade their
product offerings. Forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially
from any future performance suggested in such statements. In particular,
rapidly changing technologies and market conditions may require changes
to Occam's products, and the willingness of our customers to purchase
upgraded products such as Triple Play will depend in part on customers'
existing network configurations and any incremental costs associated
with implementing upgrades. Occam does not undertake any obligation to
publicly update any forward-looking statements as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. Please also refer to the
company's most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, annual report on
Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC. These filings contain and
identify other important factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.
Occam Networks and Occam BLC 6000 are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Occam Networks, Inc. in the United States and/or other
countries.
All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective
owners.

Engage PR for Occam Networks
Neila Matheny, 1-510-748-8200 ext. 215
nmatheny@enagagepr.com
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