TDS Telecom advances its 10G network vision

As it continues to evolve from being just 'a local phone company' to a 'broadband company' for its largely rural customer base, TDS Telecommunications has put the finishing touches on the first phase of its nationwide 10 Gbps transport network.

The 10G IP-based network which has been in development and deployment since 2008, pairs TDS regional hub sites using various service providers and provides geographical route diversity to maintain uptime. If one hub site suffers a major failure or outage, the other hub site or pair can immediately take over. Included in the 10G network build will be two core sites, eight regional hub sites and nine carrier partner networks and 43 10G links.

"The 10G architecture replaces our traditional communications infrastructure of more than 100 network clusters and creates a streamlined regional hub structure," states Ken Paker, vice president of Network Services for TDS in a release. "The network has expansion opportunity and is designed to evolve with the needs of our customers for years to come." 

TDS has deployed Alcatel-Lucent edge (7750) and Cisco core routers to interface with the network connection and it has publicly revealed that it will purchase capacity from Level 3 and other regional carriers to complete connection points. Level 3 will provide more than 25 10 Gbps wavelengths to connect core locations on the TDS network.

For more:
- see the TDS release here [1]
- see the Level 3 release here [2]

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