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    The challenge:
    Growing a multi-technology network efficiently

    Bluepeak is a broadband service provider operating cable DOCSIS and fiber-to-the-home and fiber-to-the-business networks across the central Midwest — from South Dakota and North Dakota down through Oklahoma and into Texas. Managing a multi-technology footprint at regional scale demands constant attention to efficiency, capital allocation, and strategic flexibility.

    When Bluepeak made the decision to invest in and expand its DOCSIS footprint, the team knew they needed more than a point solution. They needed a platform that could grow with them and adapt as their network strategy evolved. What they did not anticipate was just how quickly that evolution would come.

    Mid-deployment, Bluepeak made a significant strategic shift: the decision to begin overbuilding parts of its own HFC footprint with fiber. The challenge was to execute that pivot without duplicating infrastructure investment, without stranding assets already deployed, and without slowing the pace of network expansion.

    bluepeak

    Key challenges included:
    • Expand and upgrade DOCSIS spectrum to 1.2 GHz and ultimately 1.8 GHz across a large multi-state footprint
    • Maintain capital efficiency while managing both HFC and fiber build programs in parallel
    • Preserve the ability to choose — node by node and serving area by serving area — whether to deploy DOCSIS or fiber
    • Avoid stranding infrastructure investment when shifting from cable to PON in a given area
    • Build a platform foundation flexible enough to support future technology evolutions

    The solution: Harmonic DAA — a platform built for strategic flexibility

    Bluepeak selected Harmonic’s Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) platform for its DOCSIS expansion, deploying the infrastructure across its multi-state footprint and upgrading spectrum capacity in the process. The decision would prove to be even more valuable than originally anticipated. 

    When Bluepeak’s strategy shifted to include fiber overbuilding, the Harmonic platform’s architecture made the pivot straightforward. Because the DAA deployment shared physical infrastructure — the same node housings,  the same backhaul, the same field assets — Bluepeak was able to begin deploying XGS-PON alongside its existing DOCSIS network without starting from scratch.

    bluepeak car

    The results:
    Multi-technology agility across a multi-state footprint

    Bluepeak successfully expanded its DOCSIS network toward 1.2 GHz and 1.8 GHz spectrum capacity while simultaneously standing up an XGS-PON fiber program — all on a shared infrastructure foundation. The same assets that served the DOCSIS build now support fiber deployment wherever the business case warrants it.

    The result is a network architecture that is genuinely technology-agnostic at the node level. Bluepeak’s engineering team can direct capital to the right technology for each serving area, optimizing both subscriber experience and return on investment across a geographically diverse footprint spanning five states.

    In-house tooling built on the Harmonic platform’s intelligence layer — augmented by best-of-breed vendor tools — gives Bluepeak the operational visibility to manage a complex multi-technology environment efficiently, with the customer experience always at the center.

    Key outcomes:

    • Rapid XGS-PON deployment leveraging existing DAA node housings, backhaul, and infrastructure
    • Spectrum upgrade path to 1.2 GHz and 1.8 GHz across the DOCSIS footprint
    • Per-node technology flexibility: DOCSIS or fiber, decided independently for each serving area
    • Capital efficiency preserved across a parallel HFC and fiber build program
    • In-house and off-the-shelf operational tools built on Harmonic’s open platform delivering a superior customer experience

    “Thankfully because of Harmonic and
    the platform we had deployed, we were
    able to quickly make a technology shift,
    utilize the same housings, the same
    infrastructure, the same backhaul and
    start deploying PON, XGS-PON there
    very quickly.”

    – Eric Fligel,
    VP of Technology,
    Engineering &
    Operations, Bluepeak

    Eric Fligel Headshot

     

    1.2– 1.8 GHz
    Spectrum upgrade path across DOCSIS footprint
    Dual Tech
    DOCSIS + XGS-PON on shared infrastructure
    5 States
    Multi-state footprint from SD/ND to TX