Wow! Selects Nortel For Optical Cable Network

TORONTO – WOW!, Internet, Cable & Phone, the Midwestern provider of triple-play bundled services, has selected Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] to build its next-generation network for enhanced triple-play services, including video-on-demand (VOD). The optical and Ethernet upgrades to the network will enable WOW! to offer its customers a larger library of VOD titles at faster speeds than currently available while ensuring the quality of other services. The Nortel optical solution will also provide a foundation for easily evolving future network services enhancements.


“The expansion of our network with Nortel is a great validation of our business because it means our focus on providing affordable service bundles and exemplary customer service has struck a chord,” said Mike Brody, chief technical officer, WOW!. “Nortel gives us the ability to further our customer-centric philosophy by simplifying and improving our network infrastructure in a cost-effective manner, enabling us to deliver new communications and entertainment options to our customers.”

“The consumer appetite for real-time services has never been higher, placing a heavy toll on networks that deliver everything from voice and data to video-on-demand,” said Tom Buttermore, general manager, Cable Solutions, Nortel. “Nortel provides both the infrastructure to help deliver new services quickly and efficiently as well as the tools to simplify network complexity. WOW!’s customers are the real winners with this network expansion because they will be getting exciting new services that wouldn’t have been possible before.”

The WOW! network expansion will serve customers in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. Network enhancements to support growth and ensure the quality of VOD and VoIP services will rely on the Nortel optical solution for cable operators, including Nortel Optical Metro 5200, Nortel Optical Multiservice Edge 6500, Common Phototonic Layer (CPL), and Optical Manager Element Adapter Administration (OMEA). Enhancements also include Nortel Global Services for cable operators, which allow WOW! to focus on core business objectives rather than day-to-day network management.

Nortel’s Metro Ethernet portfolio, being used by WOW!, includes multiservice optical and carrier Ethernet solutions. The portfolio enables service providers to address the growth of high-bandwidth video and data applications in their metro, regional and long-haul networks.
Nortel’s Global Services portfolio offers a full range of network application, implementation, management and support services for end-to-end, multi-vendor, multi-technology networks.