Occam Networks FTTP Equipment Plays Key Role In Flagship European Open Access Network

Scarborough Business Park Offers 100 Mbps Services to Bandwidth Hungry Enterprises

Access equipment from Occam Networks – which launched itself into the EMEA region earlier last month at the ITU World Telecom event in Geneva – is at the heart of one of the most advanced Open Access Networks (OAN) in Europe.  Occam’s BLC 6322 GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) FTTP blade is handling traffic to and from the business park as part of a prestige contract won by the company’s UK-based value added reseller Fibre Options.

Scarborough Business Park in the United Kingdom is England’s first OAN and one of the first anywhere in Europe to offer bandwidth over 100 Mbps to its customers. The availability of such high speed broadband in one of the United Kingdom’s most rural and remote areas has already won the local authority for Scarborough the European Commission’s award as the “most enterprising town” in the UK which was then followed up with the same accolade for the whole of Europe.

“To be involved in such an innovative and forward looking network is great news for Occam and we congratulate Fibre Options on their achievement in winning the contract and delivering such a world class network,” said Russ Sharer, Marketing Vice President of Occam Networks.  “We have great confidence that our products will succeed across Europe as the region embraces the need for higher bandwidth delivery.”

The pioneering OAN at Scarborough is operated by NYnet, an organisation formed by North Yorkshire County Council, with funding from the UK Government regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward and the European Union. The responsibility for providing the optical access network to, and around the site has been handled by Fibre Options.

“The Occam BLC 6322 GPON OLT is a perfect fit for the job,” said Mark Trojacek of Fibre Options.  “It is a simple solution that easily scales enabling us to cope with growth and increased demand without any major service or network upheaval.”

Fibre Options, a system integrator in the western European market, has been working with Occam to develop emerging FTTP broadband networks.  “We have an excellent partnership with Occam and we know its BLC 6000 MSAP product line is one Fibre Options and our service provider customers can rely on,” added Mark Trojacek.

The 6322 GPON blade can provide full line-rate bandwidth on every GPON port for deployments such as Scarborough. With its ability to offer a full array of advanced services, including IPTV, it is also ideally suited to future entertainment requirements. Inside the product is the Occam Packet Engine that comprises processing designed specifically to support the massive Ethernet and IP processing demands of business and Triple Play applications at work or at home.

The Scarborough Business Park is a £9.6 million scheme involving both an existing active park and a new location directly opposite. More than 100 acres have now been developed and the local council are looking to create 1,000 new jobs during the next ten years – a significant development in such a remote location.