Grande Communications Chooses Entrisphere to Drive Profitable Triple Play FTTH Network

Grande Communications Chooses Entrisphere to Drive Profitable Triple Play FTTH Network

Entrisphere's BLM 1500 and New BLM T100 ONT to Deliver PON-Based Triple Play Services via FTTH Overbuild for Texas-Based MSO

SANTA CLARA, Calif. and SAN MARCOS, Texas, May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Entrisphere and Grande Communications today announced that Grande is deploying Entrisphere's BLM 1500(TM) Broadband Loop Multiplexer and BLM T100(TM) Single Family Unit Optical Network Terminal (ONT) to deliver profitable triple play services to Grande customers via fiber-to-the-home (FTTH). Entrisphere's equipment will provide advanced new services such as high-speed data, voice, and digital video to Grande customers in Austin and San Antonio, Texas. Although Grande has been aggressively deploying deep fiber networks (taking fiber to a 24-home node) throughout its markets since its inception five years ago, the company has now adopted a FTTH overbuild model because it allows a faster build-out with significantly less equipment than any other network technology.

With over 125,000 customers, Grande Communications is one of Texas' most aggressive users of fiber network infrastructure, and is the first provider in the Austin/San Antonio area to build a new broadband network from the ground up. "Our vision is to be the first to offer the industry's most advanced services, and among all available technologies, FTTH is our best option for supporting the data-intensive applications and content of the future," said William Morrow, vice chairman and CEO of Grande Communications. "Entrisphere's responsiveness in delivering a highly flexible service platform along with a best-of-breed, fully interoperable ONT is helping us accelerate our deployment plan."

Entrisphere is supplying the BLM 1500 and T100 products under a multi-year contract. The contract is part of Grande's previously announced plan to invest $500 million over the next seven to ten years to build new high-speed networks for its markets in Texas.

"Grande Communications has recognized that a FTTH architecture provides both a competitive advantage over other service providers and a lower network cost. They are leading in overbuilding incumbents to offer triple play services, and we are pleased to be working with them," said Mark Floyd, president and CEO of Entrisphere. "By deploying FTTH with our BLM 1500 and T100, Grande is enabling a wide range of future services, including HDTV and 100-megabit Ethernet to the home."

Entrisphere's BLM 1500 and new BLM T100 ONT deliver cost-effective PON-based triple play services to subscriber homes. The BLM 1500 is a multi-service access platform that delivers both copper and fiber solutions, and Grande has installed it in both central office and remote cabinet locations. Grande builds the fiber network, passing a number of its customers, before offering services to those customers. Once a customer orders service, Grande installs an optical drop and a T100 ONT to deliver bundled services, including Internet, voice, digital video, and other services. Because Grande only installs the optical drop and the T100 after a customer orders service, the company will save on up-front equipment costs and will speed return on investment for these deployments.

About Grande Communications (www.grandecom.com)

Headquartered in San Marcos, Grande Communications(R) is building a deep-fiber broadband network to homes and businesses from the ground up. Grande's 850 employees deliver high-speed Internet, local and long-distance telephone, digital cable television and wireless home security services over its own advanced broadband network to communities in Texas. Grande's bundled service area includes portions of Austin, Corpus Christi, suburban northwest Dallas, Midland, Odessa, San Antonio, San Marcos, and Waco.

About Entrisphere

Entrisphere is leading the business of access network evolution by simplifying network architectures, enabling multi-service delivery, and eliminating barriers to deployment flexibility and profits. Entrisphere's comprehensive access solutions, including the BLM 1500 system, ease migration for incumbent carriers by delivering advanced communications and entertainment services over circuit or packet networks based on PON or copper transport. With decades of experience supplying the global carrier market, the Entrisphere team uniquely understands the operational challenges of delivering advanced services while preserving competitive leadership. For more information, please visit www.entrisphere.com.

Source: Entrisphere

CONTACT: Don McCullough of Entrisphere, +1-408-850-0389, or dmccullough@entrisphere.com; or Brian Dolezal of Grande Communications, +1-512-344-2035, or bdolezal@tateaustin.com

Web site: http://www.grandecom.com/

Web site: http://www.entrisphere.com/

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