MCTV, a leading Internet, TV and Phone provider across eight counties in Ohio is excited to announce that the aerial build for its Excellerate network, is complete. MCTV launched the project in June of 2017 to be one of the first cable TV operators to bring PON-based fiber-to-the-home technology in northeast Ohio.
Planning for Excellerate began in 2016 as MCTV began investigating network upgrades in order to keep pace with ever-increasing consumer demand for more bandwidth. MCTV selected a Passive Optical Network (PON) on which to build Excellerate. PON utilizes a point-to-multipoint fiber architecture with a fiber being shared between approximately 32 homes. “We chose PON technology for several reasons,” explains Robert Gessner, president of MCTV. “By building out our already robust fiber network, we will be able to keep pace with consumer demand by making upgrades in the future without expensive system rebuilds. PON also requires less equipment in the field which means fewer points of failure. This, in turn, means a reliable experience for customers.”
Since work began in 2017, more than 1,200 miles of fiber have been constructed. MCTV’s in-house teams have done the majority of the work, along with the help of a few outside construction contractors. “Our guys came to us early in the process and said ‘we can build this ourselves,” said Katherine Gessner, vice president of MCTV. “We said ‘go for it’ and they tackled it head on. They have spent thousands of hours envisioning, researching, building, splicing and activating the Excellerate network and we couldn’t be prouder of them.”
The focus is now moving to splicing fiber drops and activating customers on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. MCTV expects to keep the project moving quickly to ensure customers are well on their way to experiencing symmetrical download and upload speeds in their home. “After months of planning and more than a year and a half of construction, we are ecstatic to complete the initial construction phase of this project,” explains Katherine Gessner.
MCTV now has nearly 1,700 Excellerate customers throughout its service area. Excellerate will eventually be available across nearly the entire MCTV footprint. “This is a huge credit to the hard work and impressive accomplishments that come from our entire team’s effort,” states Robert Gessner. “We strive to stay ahead of technology and this milestone does exactly that. We continue to strengthen the communities we serve, our customers, and our MCTV family through innovative technology that keeps them connected to what matters most.”
For more information about Excellerate, contact MCTV at 330-833-4134 or visit www.MCTVOhio.com/excellerate.
About MCTV: MCTV “goes the extra smile” for its customers, adding high-touch service to high-tech telecommunications. Since 1965, MCTV’s 165+ local employees have been serving their neighbors with a full complement of advanced broadband products for home and business including High-Speed Internet, digital TV, Phone, television advertising, dedicated fiber optic connections and security systems. More than 50,000 homes and businesses in Stark, Wayne, Summit, Holmes, Tuscarawas, Jefferson, Columbiana and Monroe counties rely on MCTV for their telecommunications.
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