Extreme Networks, Inc. has been selected to provide the network foundation for triple play services including video, voice and data by Farmers Telephone Cooperative (FTC). By supplying the Metro Ethernet network infrastructure for 17 FTC central offices, Extreme Networks will be delivering the critical availability and performance features that are essential to telecom services.

Founded in 1951, FTC is a multi-faceted telecommunications company serving over 60,000 customers within a coverage area spanning 3,000 square miles in South Carolina. FTC required a new network infrastructure that would match the availability and reliability of a circuit-based telephone network. The new network has to be capable of supporting emerging IPTV services using wire speed Layer 2 Ethernet with non-stop forwarding, traffic prioritization and device redundancy.

"We are building a new IP network with the carrier-grade reliability that we are accustomed to with traditional circuit networks as we establish the foundation for emerging video and voice applications," said Gene Failmezger, IP video engineer for FTC. "Not only does Extreme Networks deliver availability with fast failover as well as switching performance requirements suited for IPTV, but also we have experienced a simple and fast installation of devices that went beyond our expectation."

FTC chose Extreme Networks BlackDiamond modular switching platform for robust Quality of Service (QoS) that allows bandwidth to be prioritized for voice applications and to provide network level availability with scalability. Extreme Networks' 10 Gigabit bandwidth enables the aggregation of thousands of ADSL connections from the customer premises and supports future television applications based on MPEG4-AVC technology.

"Our work with FTC demonstrates the depth of our Metro Ethernet switching solutions, providing service providers the flexibility and high availability to deliver many types of emerging services over a single network," said Suresh Gopalakrishnan, vice president of marketing for Extreme Networks.