Ritter Communications has struck an interconnection agreement with iRis Networks to bring fiber and Ethernet services to more than 100 rural markets in Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
Besides these four states, the new interconnect agreement will extend connections to a number of major regional locations such as Knoxville, Nashville, Chattanooga, Huntsville, Paducah, Bowling Green, Little Rock and Jonesboro. Additional direct and diverse connectivity will be provided to several national locations such as Atlanta, Memphis, Chicago, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Fort Worth and Dallas.
Through this partnership both companies will be able to serve customers ranging in size from small to enterprise level businesses, as well as regional telecommunications providers with capacity from 1 Mbps to 10 Gbps and beyond.
There are several benefits that this new agreement brings to each company, including higher speeds, carrier interconnection, anchor institutions connectivity and wireless backhaul.
On the speed side, the two companies will be able to provide a host of services that range from as low as 1 Mbps and scaling up to 10 Gbps to over 100 rural and urban markets along what Ritter and iRiS said are "unique routes." By having a wider range of speeds, regional ILECs, CLECs and cable operators will have another means to connect their infrastructure, access cost effective Internet access, and partner on national and regional connectivity projects.
Other potential beneficiaries of this agreement with be anchor institutions in these four states looking for alternative access providers and wholesale operators looking to enhance the resiliency and reach of their national and regional fiber-to-the-cell (FTTC) projects.
Ritter has been in recent years expanding its reach through a mix of organic and targeted acquisitions, including Millington Telephone Company and Millington CATV in 2012, a deal that gave it instant presence in the western Tennessee market. By partnering with iRiS, Ritter would be able to potentially more effectively respond to business and wholesale customers that have needs outside of its traditional serving territory.
For more:
- see the release
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