Charter Communications Chooses Harmonic's Advanced Broadband Delivery Solutions for Its Launch of Next Generation Services.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers SUNNYVALE, Calif. & ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 2000 Harmonic and Charter To Enable New Era in Broadband Communications Harmonic Inc. (Nasdaq:HLIT) and Charter Communications Charter Communications NASDAQ: CHTR is an American company providing cable television, high-speed Internet, and telephone services to more than 5.7 million customers in 29 states. It is the third-largest publicly traded cable operator in the U.S. Inc. (Nasdaq:CHTR CHTR Charter CHTR Canadian High Temperature Research ) today announced that Charter intends to deploy a range of Harmonic's advanced optical networking Communications between computers, telephones and other electronic devices using light. An optical network is far more reliable and has far greater potential transmission capacity than networking in the electrical domain. See optical fiber. solutions to facilitate Charter's rollout of next generation services. Charter expects to upgrade 135,000 miles of its cable plant over the next three years. As part of the initial upgrade, Charter intends to deploy Harmonic's 1310 nm PWRLink II transmitters as well as PWRBlazer II optical nodes, many of which will include Harmonic's new digital DWDM (Dense WDM) The term given to wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) when significantly more channels were being added. Since WDM is increasingly more "dense" all the time, both terms are used synonymously. See WDM. DWDM - wavelength division multiplexing return transmitter. "Harmonic is helping Charter become one of the most technically advanced companies in the cable industry," said John Pietri, Charter's Senior Vice President of Engineering. "Harmonic is Charter's supplier of 1310 nm distributed feedback laser A type of diode laser that uses diffraction gratings rather than mirrors to create the resonance and oscillation in the cavity. It produces a finer range of wavelengths than a Fabry- Perot cavity. A distributed Bragg reflection laser is a similar technology that uses Bragg gratings. transmitters. Charter Communications will continue to deploy this technology as part of our upgrade. We will also draw on Harmonic's range of fiber-deep transmission technologies, which will allow us to manage bandwidth allocation Bandwidth allocation refers to various methods used in the communications industry to design and assign frequency channels to different wireless applications. Also on programs such as Bittorent or Limewire. deep in our network," Pietri said. "Charter is building a cable network with the capacity to support a wide range of advanced video and IP data services," said Tony Ley, Harmonic's President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "We are delighted to be working with one of the world's most forward-looking operators who shares our commitment to creating a new era in broadband communications." Optical Equipment for Initial Upgrade A major component of this deployment will include PWRBlazer II nodes, which are optimized to support telephony, video-on-demand, and high-speed Internet See broadband. applications. The PWRBlazer II meets Charter's specific requirements for dual receivers and a scaleable return path that supports a range of return technologies, including digital DWDM. Harmonic is the first manufacturer in the industry to offer digital DWDM return from within an environmentally hardened node. By offering Charter a suite of return technologies, Harmonic is providing Charter the flexibility to upgrade its network cost-effectively. Harmonic's PWRLink II line of 1310 nm distributed feedback (DFB DFB acronym for dark, firm, dry meat. Called also dark cutting beef. ) transmitters provides Charter and other cable operators significant cost advantages. The PWRLink II transmitters deliver industry-leading performance in the most compact packaging available in the market today. Charter can incur lower real estate and maintenance costs as fewer platforms and power supplies are needed to support the same number of optical nodes. About Charter Communications Inc. Charter Communications, a Wired World(TM) company, is among the country's leading broadband communications companies. Charter serves approximately 6.1 million customers. Charter offers an array of services including cable television under the Charter brand; advanced digital video programming services under the Charter Digital Cable(TM) brand and high-speed Internet access via Charter Pipeline(TM). Charter is traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the ticker symbol Ticker Symbol An arrangement of characters (usually letters) representing a particular security listed on an exchange or otherwise traded publicly. When a company issues securities to the public marketplace, it selects an available ticker symbol for its securities which investors "CHTR." More information about Charter can be accessed on the Internet at www.chartercom.com. About Harmonic Inc. Harmonic designs, manufactures and markets digital and fiber optic systems that deliver video, voice and data over cable, satellite, telco and wireless networks. These advanced solutions enable cable television and other network operators to provide a range of interactive broadband services that include high-speed Internet access, telephony and video-on-demand. Harmonic is headquartered in Sunnyvale, where it also operates an R&D center and a manufacturing facility, and has a sales and support center in the U.K. The company also operates its Harmonic Data Systems subsidiary and an R&D center in Israel. In addition, the company maintains several sales and support centers worldwide. Harmonic is ISO (1) See ISO speed. (2) (International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland, www.iso.ch) An organization that sets international standards, founded in 1946. The U.S. member body is ANSI. 9001-certified and its stock is traded on the Nasdaq stock market Nasdaq stock market The first electronic stock market listing over 5000 companies. The Nasdaq stock market comprises two separate markets, namely the Nasdaq National Market, which trades large, active securities and the Nasdaq Smallcap Market that trades emerging growth companies. under the symbol "HLIT." For more information, check the company`s website at www.harmonicinc.com. This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, Charter's intention to deploy Harmonic's products to facilitate the roll out of next generation services, Charter's intention to upgrade 135,000 miles of its cable plant, Charter's continued deployment of 1310 nm transmitters and Harmonic's range of fiber-deep transmission technologies, and the ability of Harmonic's products to meet Charter's specific requirements and to provide Charter the flexibility to upgrade its network cost-effectively and incur lower real estate and maintenance costs, within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The upgrade of Charter's cable plant is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Harmonic. In addition, actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of the risk factors set forth in documents that Harmonic files with the SEC, specifically reports on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. and 10-Q. Note to Editors: Product and company names used here are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. |
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