Upgrade offers improved high-speed services to more than 21 communities across Eastern Kentucky

East Kentucky Network, LLC d/b/a Appalachian Wireless, (EKN) has selected converged packet optical solutions from Ciena® (NYSE: CIEN) to increase network capacity, enhance service offerings and provide greater network reliability. With this upgrade, EKN can rapidly provision new offerings like 10G, 100G and Ethernet business services for its customers. Additionally, Ciena’s solution helps EKN provide up to ten times the capacity previously available, giving its customers cost-effective access to higher-speed, higher-bandwidth, low-latency voice, video and data services.

Key Facts:

  • EKN is owned by a consortium of five partners, including Coalfields Telephone, Foothills Rural Telephone, Mountain Rural Telephone, Peoples Rural Telephone and Thacker-Grigsby Telephone. It serves 21 counties in Kentucky and is comprised of a 375-mile fiber ring network. Its customers include enterprises, government entities, educational, as well as its wireless and independent telephone company members.
  • Offering these new scalable and reliable services helps place EKN in the best position to improve the communications experience for users in the mountains of East Kentucky. It also allows EKN to complement, and add to, what the Commonwealth of Kentucky is doing with KentuckyWired as well as the federal government’s First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), to drive sustainable economic development across the state.
  • EKN deployed Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform to provide ultra-high bandwidth services across its entire network, including customized Ethernet services for enterprise customers with the platform’s integrated packet switching capabilities. To increase the redundancy of the network, Ciena’s solutions are configured in a metro ring architecture, ensuring multi-site connectivity with capacity to handle data growth.
  • EKN is also using Ciena’s multi-layer network management system to automate provisioning and streamline network management for faster service turn-up and improved service availability.

Executive Comments:

  • “Our customers need cost-effective access to the latest high-bandwidth services and applications, anytime and anywhere. With Ciena’s 6500 platform, we are taking our offerings to the next level, and providing our customers low-latency, high-speed and scalable broadband connectivity to meet their needs today and enable sustainable growth for tomorrow.”
    -          W.A. Gillum, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, EKN
  • “Regional service providers like East Kentucky Network recognize the benefits of leveraging advanced, packet-optical transport technology to construct a more reliable network that helps improve broadband connectivity for the community. Our solutions provide a future-proof foundation to ensure EKN’s residential, commercial and government customers have this important network to support business productivity and economic development.”
    -          Jason Phipps, General Manager and Vice President, North America, Ciena

About East Kentucky Network
East Kentucky Network, LLC dba Appalachian Wireless formed in 2001. It’s owned and operated by a board of directors as mentioned above. Appalachian Wireless has proudly taken care of wireless needs in the Eastern Kentucky area since 1991. Our organization has an environment that encourages all employees to take ownership and embrace the company's shared vision, values, missions and goals. Our commitment to our customers is to provide technology and services that exceeds their expectations. Through our commitment to customer service, we will develop the financial strength to facilitate the diversification necessary to continue to support sustainable growth beyond our current success. For updates on EKN or Appalachian Wireless, follow us on Twitter @AppWireless or visit www.appalachianwireless.com

About Ciena
Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is a global leader in networking systems, services, and software. We build the most adaptive networks in the industry, enabling customers to anticipate and meet ever-increasing digital demands. For three-plus decades, Ciena has brought our humanity to our relentless pursuit of innovation. Prioritizing collaborative relationships with our customers, partners, and communities, we create flexible, open, and sustainable networks that better serve all users—today and into the future. For updates on Ciena, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, the Ciena Insights blog, or visit www.ciena.com.

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