OptiComm upgrades core network

Fibre-to-the-premises builder OptiComm has upgraded its core network to cater for growth in the number of greenfields sites and retail service providers it supports.

The upgrade, which took place in the first half of 2013, saw the company deploy six Brocade NetIron MLXe-8 routers at a cost of approximately $400,000.

The routers that previously ran in its core — six NetIron CERs — have been pushed out to the edge of the network for reuse.

"We've been using Brocade since the beginning," chief technology officer Stephen Davies told iTnews. "What we did was upgrade the core network to their latest MLX technology".

The MLX routers are housed in OptiComm points of interconnect, which sit in data centres in six Australian capitals. The CERs have been pushed into 'exchange' type buildings that sit closer to the new housing estates and other customers that OptiComm services.

Davies said that the "number of sites and RSPs [retail service providers]" connecting to OptiComm is rapidly expanding. The company is best known for deploying FTTP networks in new housing estates, upon which it offers wholesale services on an open access basis.

However, it also deploys fibre into business and industrial parks and other commercial precincts such as shopping centres. The company counts Westfield Sydney among its commercial customers.

Systems integrator ASI Solutions was involved in the MLX implementation.