Allied Telesyn Ships New IP FTTx Platform for Triple Play Services; Uniquely Offers Operational Savings of Copper and Fiber Services in One Platform.

Business Editors

BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2004

Allied Telesyn today announces a new FTTx offering for Triple Play (voice, video, data) services. Allied Telesyn's groundbreaking AT-TN9000 series Multiservice Access Platforms (MAPs), integrated with its AT-RG600 series of Residential Gateway CPEs, solidify its position as the industry leader in providing end-to-end Ethernet/IP-based access applications for Service Providers.

The new AT-TN9000 series MAP is the only industry solution providing both copper and fiber functionality in one Ethernet/IP, chassis-based platform, allowing immediate ROI on DSL Triple Play deployments while assuring easy migration in the future to FTTx. The "one platform, any media" offering promises greater adoption of Ethernet/IP as the enabler of high-bandwidth, high-quality services from the Central Office all the way to the customer premises, said Bill Allen, new Vice President of Operations for Allied Telesyn's Service Provider Group.

"Deploying Triple Play services today is critical in order to secure new customers and generate incremental revenues," said Curt Wazel, CEO of Livingston Telephone. "With Allied Telesyn's Access solution, we get the best of both worlds--the ability to deploy video, voice and data services today, leveraging our existing copper infrastructure, while at the same time preparing us for a move to fiber in the future."

The delivery of advanced services like video and voice over IP has exploded in the past few years due to significant advances in the Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities of Ethernet/IP-based solutions and the inherent cost savings that they provide relative to ATM systems. Building on Allied Telesyn's experience with Triple Play deployments, the AT-TN9000 series and AT-RG600 series have been developed from the ground up with the requirements of these applications in mind.

Allied Telesyn has involvement with numerous, current DSL and FTTx customers, and the AT-TN9000 series and AT-RG600 series have been developed to meet their needs as the Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) standard -- IEE 802.3ah -- evolves. The EFM single fiber active solution, enabled by Allied Telesyn's new products, provides full duplex 100 megabits, over a single strand of fiber. Additionally, the AT-TN9000 series MAPs support dual fiber and multimode, mixed in the same system, allowing Service Providers the ultimate in flexibility for Ethernet last mile solutions.

"Providing Triple Play services via Ethernet/IP is an exploding trend in our industry and for us specifically," said Richard Kenshalo, Director of Engineering, for Matanuska Telephone. "Allied Telesyn's engineers have been integral in our deployment efforts by proactively working with VoIP gateway vendors, middleware vendors, and set-top box vendors to pre-certify their solutions and address interoperability issues before they become a problem. One of the benefits to us is that this next generation of Allied Telesyn products reflects the real-life requirements we have encountered through our field implementation."

Those requirements include Carrier-grade, NEBS-3 compliant, environmentally hardened AT-TN9000 MAPs for long-term deployments outdoors or indoors, as well as high-density ADSL2+ line cards, Dual Fiber line cards, and even Single Fiber line cards that send and receive data over a single strand of fiber according to the EFM standard.

Additional smart hardware offerings include a compact footprint for high-density installation, full front access for easier maintenance and upgrades, and hot-pluggable "any-service, any-slot" line card modules. The AT-TN9000 series allows Fast Ethernet connections via its single and dual fiber interfaces, and features a 6 Gigabit WAN uplink capacity. The AT-TN9000 series will be paired with a family of Outdoor Plant cabinet configurations, allowing Providers to deploy and aggregate their network in a ring, linear chain, or any configuration they desire.

The 3RU-high AT-TN9400 supports up to 168 ADSL or 70 FTTH subscribers (or combinations thereof). The 6RU high AT- TN9700, the most fully-featured MAP available from Allied Telesyn, supports 408 ADSL or 170 FTTH subscribers. Current customers who deploy Allied Telesyn's AT-TN7000 MAP series can upgrade their existing hardware to an AT-TN9000 series product, protecting their capital investments.

Complimenting the AT-TN9000 series MAP is Allied Telesyn's AT-RG600 series line of ADSL and FTTx Residential Gateway CPEs, which complete the end-to-end ADSL and/or FTTx Triple Play Access solution. With support for IGMP Snooping for efficient video delivery, programmable Rate Limiting, VoIP support for SIP, MGCP and H.323, and powerful Layer 3 functionality such as NAT, DMZ, and IPSec firewall, the AT-RG600 series is an all-in-one solution at an extremely cost-effective price point to help further drive ROI for Service Providers.

The AT-RG600 series consists of 9 different models designed to meet the specific needs of a wide range of deployments. Indoor versions offer 3x or 4x LAN and 2x FXS ports and choices of ADSL, Single Fiber, Dual Fiber MM, Dual Fiber SM, and TX WAN interfaces. The series' outdoor hardened versions offer 6x LAN, 3x FXS and choices of Single Fiber, Dual Fiber MM, and Dual Fiber SM WAN interfaces.

"We have been waiting for a better alternative to proprietary PON FTTx networks so we aren't locked into a single vendor for the life of our network. With the single fiber solution from Allied Telesyn, we can lower our total cost of ownership by taking advantage of the cost savings that standards-based Ethernet solutions are known for. After close examination, we also found the operational savings of an Active Optical Network (AON) solution to be significantly greater than passive because 'pass-bys' can be easily added when they do eventually request service. With Allied Telesyn's AON solution, we can build out the curbside hardware as we need it," said Gary Stepanian, CTO of DSSI in Orange Beach, Alabama, a Service Provider and Allied Telesyn customer using the AT-TN9000 series MAP for Triple Play over Fiber.

About Allied Telesyn, Inc.

Founded in 1987 with the goal of producing reliable, standards-based networking products, Allied Telesyn bridges the gap left by manufacturers whose solutions are limited in scope, or cost-prohibitive. Allied Telesyn focuses entirely on purpose-built Ethernet/IP solutions geared to applications, rather than components; with access-edge products such as fiber/copper Multiservice Access Platforms, Customer Premises Equipment, and Layer 2/ 3 switches. The company's customer-centric focus -- with a value-based pricing scheme and superlative service organization -- has made Allied Telesyn the ideal choice for Providers looking for high-quality, feature-rich network solutions at a lower price. Allied Telesyn's value-based approach drives sales of more than $500M in annual revenue from 30 countries in 5 continents. For more information, please visit www.alliedtelesyn.com.