The network will include

UC2B turns to ADTRAN for Illinois FTTP broadband stimulus project
ADTRAN Inc. (NASDAQ:ADTN) says it will supply equipment to the University of Illinois and the cities of Champaign and Urbana for the Urbana-Champaign Big Broadband (UC2B) broadband stimulus project. The project aims to enable fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) services to K-12 schools and low-income and underserved communities, as well as data services to business customers and anchor institutions.UC2B project involves the construction and operation of an open-access fiber-optic broadband network throughout the Champaign-Urbana area. The project received a $22.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) added a $3.5 million grant of its own, and local public and private organizations added an additional $3.4 million to fund the project. The network will include a seven-ring fiber-optic backbone that will be constructed with the grant money. The grant also will fund construction of symmetrical 1-Gbps FTTP connectivity directly to more than 150 anchor institutions throughout Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy, IL, and to households and businesses in 11 underserved neighborhoods in Champaign and Urbana. ADTRAN will deliver the Total Access 5000 multiservice platform. The company says the first phase of the project will extend services to more than 10,000 residents. “The UC2B project is very important to the Champaign-Urbana region as it allows a new subset of customers to have access to next-generation broadband services that will provide better connectivity to both public and private institutions such as health care, education, libraries, public safety, and social service agencies and senior living centers,” said Mike Smeltzer, director of physical infrastructure at the University of Illinois. “After extensive evaluation of competitive solutions, we selected ADTRAN’s Total Access 5000 to provide fiber-based gigabit connectivity to some 2,700 households, businesses, and community anchor institutions.”