Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech Selects Occam Networks as Broadband Access Supplier in $101 Million Broadband Stimulus Project

Largest Wireline Access Stimulus Award to Date Will Bring Long-Awaited Broadband Service to 23,000 Households and Businesses Across 4,600 Square Miles in Western Kansas

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Occam Networks®, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCNW), announced today that Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech has tapped long-time partner Occam and its BLC 6000 multiservice access platform (MSAP) to deliver long-awaited fiber-based broadband services into 21 communities and 26 rural areas across more than 4,600 square miles. Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech has been awarded the largest wireline broadband access broadband stimulus award to-date with $101 million in combined Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) grants and loans to bring advanced broadband services to Western Kansas.

“This project is as advanced as any broadband build, leveraging Occam’s leading MSAP to deliver high-speed access to both underserved and unserved areas across the region,” said Larry Sevier, General Manager of Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech. “Bringing broadband into our communities now gives our region a competitive edge. Community leaders can better promote the area for establishing new businesses, as a retirement destination and as a true alternative to big city living with the same resources. As the project gets underway over the course of the next three years, we expect to see an immediate and long-term impact on our economy.”

Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech, based in Lenora, Kansas, will reach 23,000 households and businesses with broadband over a combination of fiber and WiMAX technologies. Through this award, communities throughout western Kansas can take advantage of the rich benefits of broadband including “anywhere” access to public resources, expanded services for 335 anchor institutions including schools, libraries and hospitals and an increase in employment and business opportunities. Funding will pay for infrastructure, construction, labor and electronics over the course of 3 years as Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech aims to bring broadband ubiquity to western Kansas.

Occam Gives Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech the Edge in the Broadband Race

Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech and Occam have worked together for over nine years on a variety of both copper and fiber broadband network builds, including DSL, Gigabit (Active) Ethernet and GPON FTTP deployments. Occam will play a key role in delivering fiber based services to the 21 communities in the new project, as both the BLC 6312 and BLC 6316 will be utilized by Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech. The numerous anchor institutions reached by Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech’s broadband stimulus project will be served by Occam’s ON 2364 Gigabit Ethernet ONTs and residences in the area will be supported by ON 2342 Gigabit Ethernet ONTs.

“A true innovator, Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech’s plan for this project is a testament to the company’s long term vision for rural broadband,” said Juan Vela, Director, Solutions Marketing and Strategy for Occam Networks. “The project demonstrates that Broadband Stimulus projects can not only meet the minimum goals set by the National Broadband Plan but can also meet the strategic goals of 100Mbps to 100M homes and 1Gbps to anchor institutions. Occam’s solutions enable broadband providers to provide rural communities with services comparable to those found in urban centers while providing the bandwidth necessary to meet national initiatives.”

Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech Accelerates Network Build to Meet National Broadband Plan Goals

An established, innovative service provider, Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech had planned to complete the project in ten years. However, by using a combination of RUS loans and the broadband stimulus award, 39,000 homes and businesses in a serving footprint of 9,300 square miles will now have high-speed access within three years. In line with the goals of the proposed National Broadband Plan, 35,000 existing and potential customers will gain access to broadband speeds of 100 Mbps as a result of the deployment. More than 335 anchor institutions, including hospitals, colleges and libraries will have 1Gbps broadband connectivity, yet another goal of the National Broadband Plan.

“Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech is a prime example of an operator working to help meet the goal of the National Broadband Plan to provide 100MB speeds to 100 million homes by 2020,” said Teresa Mastrangelo, principal analyst at Broadbandtrends. “Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech and Occam’s commitment to helping achieve this goal and doing so in a fraction of the time, sets a benchmark for other service providers who are striving to meet the goals of the plan and helping their customers leverage some of the fastest broadband speeds in the country.”

About Rural Telephone/Nex-Tech

Rural Telephone Service Co., Inc. is a Kansas cooperative and leader in the telecommunications industry since 1951.

Nex-Tech is a subsidiary of Rural Telephone Service Company, Inc. Nex-Tech provides a full line of voice and data services to residential, government, education and commercial clients. In addition to its Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) services, Nex-Tech also provides a host of other services including long distance, VoIP, Internet, home security, and cable television. Nex-Tech prides itself on bringing affordable, state-of-the-art technologies to central and western Kansas.

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 350 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.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6319142&lang=en

CONTACT:

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

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  California  Kansas

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Technology  Hardware  Internet  Networks  Telecommunications  Mobile/Wireless  VoIP

MEDIA:

Logo

Photo

Plowing fiber optic cable in northwest Kansas (Photo: Business Wire)

Photo

Technician installing a Network Interface Device at a business in Phillipsburg, Kansas (Photo: Business Wire)