Premium Choice Broadband, a Maine-based fiber services provider headquartered in Brewer, modernized its core network with IP Infusion OcNOS SP running on UfiSpace open hardware. The upgrade replaced an existing Cisco core router and shifted Premium Choice toward a disaggregated networking strategy that supports its mission of bridging the digital divide across rural Maine.
The Challenge
Founded in 2007 and part of the Varney family of companies, Premium Choice Broadband has grown from five broadcast locations around Bangor to more than 67 sites covering roughly 7,000 square miles between Rockwood and Surry. The operator delivers fiber-to-the-home, DSL, cable, and wireless services to over 5,000 Maine families and businesses across Hancock, Penobscot, and Piscataquis counties.
To keep pace with that footprint, Premium Choice needed to upgrade an aging Cisco core router and, in a follow-on project, replace a Ubiquiti EdgeRouter Infinity supporting a statewide fiber ring. Budget pressure and the cost of traditional rip-and-replace upgrades made the existing vendor path unattractive.
The Solution
Premium Choice selected IP Infusion OcNOS SP on UfiSpace white box hardware for both projects:
- Initial deployment: OcNOS-SP-IPBASE-2400 on the UfiSpace S9600-72XC aggregation router, a disaggregated platform built for 5G and broadband applications with up to 2.4 Tbps of switching capacity.
- Second phase: OcNOS-SP-IPBASE-800 on UfiSpace S9510-28DC hardware to connect a fiber ring around the state of Maine, providing an easy path to 400G ports.
- Optics: Premium Choice sourced interconnect optics from E.C.I. Networks to link the OcNOS routers.
成果
The initial deployment succeeded on its own terms and gave Premium Choice the confidence to begin the second upgrade phase around the statewide fiber ring. Because the new core runs as software on open hardware, future capacity and feature upgrades arrive as low-impact software updates rather than wholesale equipment swaps.
- Replaced an outdated Cisco core router with a disaggregated OcNOS SP and UfiSpace stack.
- Positioned the network for 400G port expansion as the fiber ring buildout continues.
- Reduced exposure to vendor-dictated upgrade cycles by separating software from hardware.
Why OcNOS
"The immediate availability of upgrade equipment, the robustness of the software, and, of course, the paradigm-changing price, made our upgrade choice relatively obvious," said Andy Breda, Network Manager of Premium Choice Broadband. "Network disaggregation and smart software not only make today's performance sufficient for any modern application, but upgrades in the future will consist of low-impact software updates versus the rip-and-replace strategy other vendors require."