Connecting a State: Key Lessons from the First Middle Mile Network in Arkansas

While much of the focus and funding for broadband is on last-mile access, the middle mile (aggregation network) cannot be ignored. Many of the rural areas with unserved households are located many hundreds of miles from the nearest internet point of presence (PoP). The middle mile is defined by the NTIA as any infrastructure that is not connected directly to an end-user. Many rural providers are banding together to create a middle mile network to aggregate all the broadband traffic from various entities to one or more internet PoPs. A great example of rural utility co-ops in the state of Arkansas banding together to address the middle mile is Diamond State Networks (DSN).

Join Ciena’s Mitch Simcoe and Doug Maglothin from Diamond State Networks, to hear key insights from the first middle mile network in Arkansas.

Topics will include:

• The drivers for building a middle mile network
• How to leverage power utility assets for middle mile builds
• Lessons learned through the deployment of a middle mile network serving 72 of 75 counties in Arkansas