Optical Solutions Inc., the market leader in GPON access solutions, announced that Laurel Highland Telephone Company (LHTC) of Stahlstown, Pennsylvania, has signed an exclusive agreement to purchase the FiberPath 500 GPON system through 2007. The contract coincides with the independent carrier's plan to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network that will serve nearly 5,400 homes and businesses across the remote Laurel Highlands region 50 miles east of Pittsburgh.

For nearly a century, LHTC has evolved to meet the voice, video, and data needs of its two-county customer base. The upgrade to FTTP will enable the carrier to enhance and build on its current service offering, while also fulfilling Pennsylvania's progressive Chapter 30 telecommunications law. Chapter 30 was passed more than a decade ago to spur broadband deployment across the state, and was recently amended to provide incentives to companies that deliver high-speed Internet service before the original 2015 goal year.

"With higher data speeds and a greater selection of CATV channels, we're giving customers more ways to enjoy and benefit from our services," said LHTC President and CEO Jim Kail. "We're also giving others a compelling reason to relocate their family or business to Laurel Highlands."