CC Communications opts for Wave7

CC Communications, a 13,000-line telco in Fallon, Nev., announced that it will use Wave7 Optics’ Last Mile Link fiber-to-the-premises equipment broadband connections beginning in January 2005.

CC previously had been offering voice, high-speed data and IP-based video over its copper infrastructure. And while the company initially will use the FTTP gear only in greenfield environments, a plan is in place to convert much of its plant to fiber.

Because the company already had been providing video services, the deal with Wave7 does not include much of the typical triple-play elements. CC, which is 116th largest ILEC in the country, is using Tut Systems’ digital headend and set-top boxes from Amino and Thomson.

For Wave7, the deal gives it another proof point that putting in fiber makes economic sense.

"We’re seeing a lot of customers right now in the municipal and utility space," said Mike Wearsch, vice president of sales for North America.

In the independent space, where some carriers have a mix of traditional telco and cable plant, the company has brought the cost down to within 10% or so of the cost of an hybrid fiber/coax network.

"The economics are very close," Wearsch said.

So far, the company has 41 deployments in the U.S. and the vast majority of those are running fiber all the way to the home, he added.