Ceragon Networks Ltd. has received orders of approximately $4 million to supply microwave backhaul solutions and turnkey services including installation, project management and commissioning to the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA). The NTUA selected Ceragon’s FibeAir®IP-10G to power the Navajo Nation’s wireless backhaul network. The systems are part of a network that is over 530 miles long, which is made up of microwave towers and fiber optics.
NTUA’s project is a result of a federal grant award from the National Telecommunications Infrastructure Administration to NTUA to establish broadband connectivity within the Navajo Nation. The contract to Ceragon is partially funded by the federal grant and is meant to ensure that broadband Internet access and adoption is expanded to all areas across America, bridging the ‘digital divide’. Expanded Internet access will help improve connectivity conditions for the residents of the Navajo Nation. The increased connectivity is expected to spur job creation and improvements to education, healthcare and public safety resources.
“With the installation of the network, more than 15,000 miles of the 27,000 square miles of the Navajo Nation will be served. The selection of Ceragon is expected to enable NTUA to quickly provide needed broadband connectivity throughout the majority of the Navajo Nation,” said Lester Lee, Telecommunications Manager for NTUA.
“Broadband access is a fundamental foundation for participating in the modern economy,” said Ira Palti, Ceragon’s President and CEO. “In today’s economic climate, utilities such as the NTUA depend upon fast network set-up and fast time-to-market in order to deliver cost-effective wireless services to users in rural North America who have limited or even no broadband access. Operators worldwide depend on us for reliable broadband networks, whether in densely or sparsely populated areas. They turn to us because of a reputation we’ve earned based on years of experience in deploying wireless networks all over the world.”