Ribbon Communications has been selected to provide a middle-mile network solution for Vibrant Broadband.

The Plano, Texas-headquartered vendor will provide its IP-optical kit and automation software to Vibrant, the broadband arm of Meeker Cooperative, which is described as one of the Midwest’s oldest electric cooperatives and an early mover in rural fiber deployment.

At the heart of the network upgrade is Ribbon’s NPT 2100 router, a 1-rack-unit form factor (1-RU) platform that delivers up to 800 Gb/s of non-blocking switching capacity and offers interface options from 1 Gb/s to 400 Gb/s.

Vibrant is also adopting Ribbon’s Muse Multilayer Automation Platform, which layers SDN orchestration, service-lifecycle management, and low-code automation tools on top of the hardware.

The platform manages both IP and optical layers through a single interface or API, enabling operators to plan, provision, and monitor services. According to Ribbon, the software can shorten service activation times and provides telemetry for capacity planning and fault management.

Rural du jour

Vibrant plans to use the new equipment to extend fiber into unserved areas of central Minnesota and bolster its network backbone for advanced services.

Ribbon Communications, meanwhile, adds another name to its middle-mile client list, following similar initiatives in Alabama, Illinois, Montana, and Pennsylvania.

As U.S. broadband funding programs push fiber deeper into the countryside, community-owned power cooperatives such as Vibrant's parent Meeker have become a virile market for middle-mile upgrades.

The $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program includes funding for the expansion and extension of middle mile infrastructure – broadband infrastructure that does not connect directly to an end-user location – for unserved or underserved communities across U.S. states.

Nokia markets a Middle-Mile Transparent Fiber bundle to utility telecom operators and cooperatives, while its subsidiary Infinera partnered with SECOM last year on broadband services for rural southern Colorado.

The Alabama Fiber Network (AFN), meanwhile, a coalition of eight rural electric cooperatives, settled on Ciena for its own middle-mile solution.