view printer-friendly version

Louisiana Cable Operator Deploys Ciena’s CN 4200 for Critical Data Connections after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Allen’s TV Cable Service installed the advanced services platform in eight days to provide direct connections for a major oil company and its offshore drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, and to assist other communication networks in re-routing traffic

 Ciena® Corporation (Nasdaq: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced that Allen's TV Cable Service, Inc. (ATVC), a regional cable operator serving south central Louisiana, deployed Ciena's CN 4200™ FlexSelect™ Advanced Services Platform to fortify its services infrastructure that was threatened by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which struck the Louisiana coast in the summer of 2005. In the immediate aftermath of the storms, ATVC ordered the CN 4200 and within eight days established point-to-point communications links for its affected business customers along the Gulf Coast.    

When ATVC’s existing New Orleans-based communications network infrastructure was threatened by Hurricane Katrina, the deployment of alternative connectivity for its customers in Southern Louisiana was crucial. Because Ciena's CN 2200™ Managed Optical Ethernet Multiplexer and CN 2100™ Passive Optical Multiplexer already formed the backbone of ATVC’s Ethernet transport infrastructure, the operator turned to Ciena for an advanced services solution that provided dual benefits – quickly meet its immediate service needs while also offering the flexibility to support future service requirements for TDM, Ethernet and storage as customer needs change.

"When augmenting and rerouting our network services in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we required a flexible solution that could enhance our network today as well as give us future-proof technology to accommodate our customers’ needs as they evolve," said Jason Price, ATVC’s Data Transport Manager. "Our success is based on offering fast and affordable cable TV and data services to business and residential customers using cutting-edge technology and excellent customer service, and we expect the same from our vendors. Ciena met and exceeded all our requirements for flexibility, reliability and scalability and did so in a matter of days, not months. The time to service was exceptional. Once we had the equipment onsite, it was installed, configured and delivering services within the same day."

Ciena's CN 4200, the flagship product of its FlexSelect Architecture, is the first multiservice transport and service aggregation platform capable of supporting the migration to packet networks using future-ready technology such as ITU G.709 Optical Transport Network, dynamic wavelength routing featuring a hybrid ROADM solution, software-defined service ports, and remote service provisioning and management capabilities.

"ATVC required a new services delivery platform where speed of deployment was critical," said Mike Aquino, senior vice president of worldwide sales at Ciena. "Enabling ATVC to respond rapidly to its customer requirements represents another example of Ciena providing solutions that enhance our customers’ service reputation. It is why cable operators such as Adelphia Communications, ARMSTRONG Cable, Buckeye CableSystem, Cablevision, Cox Communications and others look to Ciena for their network infrastructure solutions."

About Ciena's FlexSelect Architecture
FlexSelect is the only migration approach available today that blends the flexibility of software with high-performance programmable hardware for the delivery of any end-user service to any point on the network at any time. This mitigates the risks associated with convergence while maximizing all service opportunities and reducing costs. FlexSelect has been shown to reduce the overall total cost of ownership by more than 60 percent in actual service provider network analyses, while continuing to support the addition of new service types.