OREANDA-NEWS. July 26, 2011. Fujitsu, a leading provider of business, information technology and communications solutions, announced today that its FLASHWAVE 9500 Packet Optical Networking Platform (Packet ONP) is playing a vital role, integrating Ethernet, ROADM and SONET/SDH, in a 1,000-mile-long fiber optic network, extending high-speed, high-bandwidth connectivity to 24 counties in Northern Ohio. The USD 70 million project, “Transforming Northeast Ohio: From Rust Belt to Tech Powerhouse,” is under the leadership of OneCommunity, a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding high-speed broadband access and adoption to strengthen Northeast Ohio.

Fueled by a USD 44.8 million stimulus grant, the OneCommunity project will improve access to critical broadband-dependent services for thousands of education and government facilities. Telemedicine, for example, will allow surgeons in urban hospitals to share new techniques with their counterparts in more rural parts of the state. OneCommunity will also make the fiber optic network available to the region’s carriers, cable operators and private networks at extremely competitive rates and terms, allowing those entities to offer high-speed connectivity and related services to business and residential customers at lower rates.

The Fujitsu FLASHWAVE 9500 Packet ONP is key to the successful implementation of the OneCommunity initiative. Integrating multiple transport technologies in a single addressable optical networking element enables a migration away from a costly infrastructure comprised of multiple disparate technologies, toward the creation of a single, universal optical infrastructure. The platform is well suited for metro transport and aggregation networks for triple-play services.

While the FLASHWAVE 9500 supplies the majority of OneCommunity’s transport capabilities, the Fujitsu FLASHWAVE 7120 is a significant complement. The FLASHWAVE 7120 extends the reach and capacity of the OneCommunity optical network. The platform combines multiplexing, amplification, signal conditioning and performance monitoring, delivering managed services and wavelengths at the network edge.

“This project will have a significant impact on the region’s opportunities for economic development and quality-of-life standards,” said Scot Rourke, president and CEO, OneCommunity. “We chose to work with Fujitsu Network Communications because they demonstrated not only technology leadership, but also a commitment to our vision. Fujitsu technology will be benefitting Northern Ohio for decades to come.”

“There are times when we in the supplier community can become overly-focused on the ‘speeds and feeds’ of the latest technology development,” said Doug Moore, senior vice president of sales, marketing and services at Fujitsu Network Communications. “But when we have an opportunity to partner with an organization such as OneCommunity and see our technology help to transform the way in which people live, work and learn, the true value of the technology is realized. We look forward to a long and mutually-beneficial relationship.”