Nortel Networks today announced two rural deployments of its optical systems by regional development authorities. The Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative of southern Virginia and the Development Authority of the North Country (DANC) of upstate New York are both using Nortel’s optical systems to create broadband networks for communities that currently don’t have that access.

And while the municipal market remains a blip on the revenue screen, it is of strategic importance to Nortel, said Kevin Drury, director of marketing for Nortel’s Optical Business Unit.

“From an engaged community type perspective, a good corporate citizen type perspective, it is very important,” he said.

MBC, a regional authority created to develop technology and infrastructure to improve the economic condition of southside Virginia, is using funds from the state’s settlement with the tobacco industry to build a regional backbone network. Those funds come from the Roots of Progress Initiative, a strategic partnership between the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission (VTICRC), the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Agency and the office of Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner.

“This is significant because this is the first time tobacco funds are being used to build a broadband network,” Drury said. “This is a significant network--a very large footprint.”

MBC is already building the 700-mile network and is about 35% done. The open-access infrastructure will serve an area that includes 700,000 residents and 19,000 businesses in five cities, 20 counties, and 56 industrial parks. The company is using a Nortel Optical Multiedge 6500 and multiple subtending Optical Metro 3500 platforms.

DANC is building its Open Access Telecom Network (OATN) of Northern New York using Nortel Optical Metro 3500 platforms, and initially focused on connecting 70 schools in the rural areas of upstate New York for distance learning and high-speed access. The network uses Nortel’s Multiservice Switch 15000 and Ethernet Routing Switch 8600, 5510, 1600 and Ethernet Switch 470 at the edge for customer access.