Case Study: Cullman Electric achieves 100G rural broadband and smart grid modernization with Ciena

Cullman Electric powers Gigabit Broadband speeds to rural Alabama with Ciena

Cullman Electric Cooperative, a rural utility serving 45,000 member accounts across Northern Alabama, needed to modernize its aging OT network while adding enough capacity to launch broadband for its communities. As demand surged from remote work, streaming, and online learning, the co-op also had to converge OT and broadband traffic without compromising the low-latency, prioritized connectivity its smart grid operations require. Ciena provided the networking foundation for this modernization with its 5171 Platform.

Ciena implemented a 100G middle-mile aggregation backbone using the 5171 Platform, enabling Cullman Electric to carry both mission-critical OT traffic and Sprout Fiber Internet broadband traffic on a converged network. The solution scaled to 100G-200G, preserved priority for OT services, and supported future broadband growth across the co-op’s 1,000-square-mile footprint. As a result, Cullman Electric gained sufficient bandwidth headroom, improved smart grid performance with ultra-low latency packet WAN, and a secure, streamlined base for future services.

Cullman Electric