Zhone Technologies Announces Expansion of MXK™ Portfolio With the Availability of High-Density 1U GPON OLTs at FTTH Conference in Orlando, Fla.

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Zhone Technologies, Inc. ZHNE, a global leader in FTTx network access solutions, today announced immediate availability of the MXK 194 and MXK 198 platforms, new high-density 1U form-factor Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) Optical Line Terminal (OLTs), as an expansion of the industry-leading MXK OLT portfolio. Enabling high-bandwidth fiber connectivity, the MXK 194/198 platforms provide service providers a highly cost-effective solution for small to mid-scale deployments. Zhone will showcase the brand new MXK 194/198 platforms in its booth at the FTTH Conference in Orlando, Fla., September 26-30, 2011.

The latest products extend the MXK product family with new small form-factor chassis with 4-port and 8-port GPON capability to support up to 512 ONTs/ONUs with a single 1U chassis. The MXK 194/198 platforms can be stacked together for larger deployments, thereby reducing overall costs and streamlining deployment for service providers. As part of Zhone's steady efforts to bring innovative products and solutions to market, the MXK 194/198 platforms provide a significant extension to the Zhone offering with the ability of the operator to leverage the smaller form-factor solution as part of the MXK product family.

“IDC forecasts 7.6 percent CAGR in the global FTTx market over the next five years,” said David Emberley, research manager of telecommunications equipment at IDC. “As service providers begin to look towards deep fiber deployments as an option, they also have unique deployment needs that need to be addressed. We believe that the smaller form-factor access platforms will play an important role in the broadband network build-out as service providers analyze cost and service efficiency factors. With the introduction of the MXK 194 and MXK 198 platforms, Zhone appears to be complementing its multi-service access approach and is poised to further strengthen its position in the FTTx market.”

With the new MXK 194/198 platforms supporting GPON, Zhone's 1U form-factor portfolio is ideally positioned to target varied deployment scenarios for both consumers and businesses including urban users, vertical markets and traditionally challenging deployments in rural areas and multi-dwelling units (MDU), among others. Zhone FiberHome portfolio now includes Fiber-to-the-Node (FTTN), Fiber-to-the-Curb (FTTC), Fiber-to-the-Building (FTTB) and Fiber-to-the-Premise (FTTP) solutions with VDSL2, Active Ethernet and GPON connectivity in the last mile in a 1U form factor that provides cost-efficiency benefits for operators while expanding their multi-service access capabilities.

“Zhone continues to develop and deliver solutions that exceed our customers' needs for increased bandwidth in an era of highly personalized and exponentially growing user demands,” noted Brian Caskey, chief marketing officer of Zhone. “As part of Deep Fiber strategy, the introduction of the MXK 194/198 platforms is a testament to Zhone's commitment to address individual operator needs cost-effectively and we are confident that each solution is exceeding expectations of our customers worldwide. The new solutions are ideal for operators looking for a very dense, highly cost-effective, converged access solution for their network needs.”

Specifically, the MXK 194 is a 1U Single Line Multi-Service (SLMS)-based platform providing 4-port GPON high-speed FTTP connectivity supporting up to 256 ONTs/ONUs, 8x FE/GE and optional 2x 10GE uplink ports, ONT Management and Control Interface (OMCI), Link Aggregation, Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching (EAPS) support and network management via the Zhone Management System (ZMS™). The MXK 198 is a 1U SLMS-based platform providing 8-port GPON high-speed FTTP connectivity supporting up to 512 ONTs/ONUs with all the other features and functionality provided by the MXK 194 platform.

The MXK 194/198 platforms provide simple yet powerful management facility via Command Line Interface (CLI), embedded web Graphic User Interface (GUI) along with complete ZMS integration. The easy-to-use ZMS provides management and provisioning across the access network, from ONT/ONU to the central office OLT. Support for Zhone's EZ Touch Provisioning helps extend ZMS element and network management capabilities to the ONTs/ONUs and provides an automated solution for software upgrades and service provisioning on the ONTs/ONUs.

To-date, Zhone has deployed more than 2,000 of its fully redundant, carrier-grade all-IP MXK platforms with more than 150 service providers globally. Total subscriber capacity supported by these deployments now exceeds 14 million. Featuring industry-leading density, scalability and switching capacity, the MXK is the industry's first terabit access concentrator and provides non-blocking capacity of up to 3,600 100 Mbps GPON subscribers or 360 1G Active Ethernet subscribers.

For more information about Zhone's MXK solution or to learn more about its various applications please visit the Zhone FiberHome™ portfolio on the Zhone website.

About Zhone Technologies

Zhone Technologies, Inc. ZHNE is a global leader in all IP multi-service access solutions, serving more than 750 of the world's most innovative network operators. The IP Zhone is the only solution that enables service providers to build the network of the future…today, supporting end-to-end Voice, Data, Entertainment Social Media, Business, Mobile Backhaul and Mobility service. Zhone is committed to building the fastest and highest quality All IP Multi-Service solution for its customers. Zhone is headquartered in California and its products are manufactured in the USA in a facility that is emission, waste-water and CFC free.

Zhone, the Zhone logo, and all Zhone product names are trademarks of Zhone Technologies, Inc. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective holders. Specifications, products, and/or product names are all subject to change without notice.

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