Oslo, Norway - May 29, 2024 - Smartoptics, a leading provider of optical
networking solutions, today announced that Panhandle Telephone Cooperative, Inc.
(PTCI) based in Oklahoma, US, has chosen Smartoptics for a new ROADM-based
network. The SoSmart software suite is used for planning and easily managing the
ROADMs. Interoperability and a lack of license fees ensure an open and cost
-efficient solution.

PTCI serves rural areas of the Oklahoma Panhandle and Texas, providing cellular,
internet and phone service to both residential and business customers. The new
Smartoptics solution is designed to meet requests from neighboring communities
to pass through PTCI's network. Smartoptics DCP-R ROADMs along with the
Smartoptics SoSmart Software Suite provide the flexibility and ease of use
needed to manage this effectively.

"We carefully considered multiple vendors to find the best solution. After
seeing what SoSmart could do for us in terms of managing the solution, the
decision was much easier," says Randy Yell, Broadband Network & Data Services
Manager, PTCI.

"The software suite overall, but especially SoSmart Planner, was the easiest
thing we have seen and solid as could be. I can quickly onboard people who are
not familiar with the software at all. They can use the planner to build out
what they want in the network, execute with very little steps involved and save
time with automatic provisioning. This is important for rural operators like us,
with long distances to cover. Based on price, functionality and ease of use, I
don't know a better vendor than Smartoptics," says Randy.

PTCI's 10-node ROADM network connects sites in northern Texas with the Oklahoma
Panhandle. The DCP-1203 transponder and DCP-110 muxponder are also used to load
100G and 10G traffic onto the network. The openness and proven interoperability
of the Smartoptics solution makes it easier for PTCI to connect with the
networks of the neighboring communities.

"At Smartoptics, we pride ourselves on offering truly open solutions with zero
license fees for alien wavelengths to eliminate vendor lock-in. Our solutions
are also designed to simplify architectures, reduce the energy and rack
footprint and improve cost efficiency. Support for aggregation of multiple links
to one higher bitrate plays a key role here. We are proud to support PTCI in
providing affordable and fast connectivity, allowing neighboring communities to
benefit from their smart network investments and reliability," says Kevin
Robinson, Vice President of Sales Americas, Smartoptics.

For more information please contact:
Magnus Grenfeldt
CEO
Smartoptics
+46 73-366 88 77
E-mail: magnus.grenfeldt@smartoptics.com

About Smartoptics
Smartoptics provides innovative optical networking solutions and devices for the
new era of open networking. Our customer base includes thousands of enterprises,
governments, cloud providers, Internet exchanges as well as cable and telecom
operators. We have an open networking approach in everything we do which allows
our customers to break unwanted vendor lock-in, remain flexible and minimize
costs. Our solutions are used in metro and regional network applications that
increasingly rely on data center services and specifications. Smartoptics is a
Scandinavian company founded in 2006. We partner with leading technology and
network solution providers such as Brocade, Cisco and Dell and have a global
reach through more than 100 business partners.
For additional information about Smartoptics, please visit
https://smartoptics.com/

About PTCI
Panhandle Telephone Cooperative, Inc. (PTCI) is the first Gig Certified internet
service provider in Oklahoma, offering affordable fiber-optic high-speed
internet and home and business phone services. Established in 1954, PTCI serves
rural residential and business customers in the Oklahoma Panhandle and parts of
the Texas Panhandle. Headquartered in Guymon, Oklahoma, PTCI has branch
locations in Boise City, OK