Broadweave to Support SIP over iProvo FTTH Network

Broadweave Networks plans to buy the municipally owned iProvo FTTH network for $40 million. Broadweave now claims to have identified the source of the problems with voice calls on the network and will address them soon.

Once the deal closes, Broadweave will give the manufacturer of home portals (network interface devices for fiber) the chance to install firmware upgrades to support SIP. This would be as opposed to the transcoding approach that CEO Steve Christensen claims the units currently use.

Broadweave discovered that the devices don’t support SIP natively during due diligence on the iProvo network. They claim it to be the source of telephone service failures over the fiber-optic network.

SIP handles telephone service on a packet-based network. Broadweave – as well as most carriers delivering VoIP services – has chosen to implement SIP.

Christensen said he’ll give the manufacturer 90 days after the deal closes to fix the issue. “If the fix is in place within that timeframe, we will cooperate with the manufacturer to implement that fix. If the problem is not solved by that time, Broadweave will begin the process of replacing the home portals with a new manufacturer of our choice.”

The iProvo network currently passes 36,000 homes with approximately 10,500 homes connected, each with its own fiber-optic home portal. Broadweave said it will stagger the replacement of the equipment, focusing first on replacing home portals for subscribers to bundles that include Broadweave’s telephone services.

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