FTTH/smart grid combo benefits Opelika, Alabama

The FTTH network will support power sensors and smart meters across the city. Opelika Power Services will use the FTTH network to monitor and measure performance across the power grid in real time. Data collected will help address potential problems as well as draw a picture of customers’ energy needs that will help the utility balance power supply and demand.

Residents, meanwhile, will be offered advanced meter reading devices that provide real-time information about the amount of energy being used in their households. Customers will be able to identify when their usage is at a peak and when there are opportunities to reduce consumption and save money.

Concurrently, the new FTTH network will be used to deliver high-speed broadband connections directly to all the homes in the city.

Under the three-year project Alcatel-Lucent will deliver an FTTH optical backbone network based on GPON technology. The project also includes full services and integration of the Alcatel-Lucent “Triple Play Express” offering for regional operators. Alcatel-Lucent’s optical network terminals will be deployed at residences and the 7750 Ethernet Service Switch will provide service aggregation, bandwidth management, and subscriber control. Alcatel-Lucent has also been selected as the integrator of the City of Opelika’s IPTV service, which runs on Microsoft Mediaroom.

Said Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller, “We are pleased to work with Alcatel-Lucent to offer all the residents of the City of Opelika, as well as business and industry, a consistent quality of broadband service, which is what they have been asking for. Additionally, the deployment of smart grid technology will empower people to make their own decisions about energy usage to help make their homes greener, and put more money back in their wallets in the process.”