CHICAGO, IL, June 21, 2004 – Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT) and Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc. today announced at Supercomm 2004 the general availability of the AMN1200 SFU (Single Family Unit) ONT (Optical Network Terminal), a product developed in collaboration with Wave7 Optics, Inc. The AMN1200 SFU ONT is designed to mount to the exterior of a residence and delivers triple play (data, voice, and video) services over a single fiber.
The SFU is the latest in a suite of specialized ONTs that Hitachi offers with its AMN1200 family of B-PON (Broadband Passive Optical Network) Systems. Other Hitachi ONTs include an ETU (Ethernet Termination Unit), available now, and two additional units to be available later this year that will support multi-dwelling residential and multi-tenant and small-to-medium business applications.
Hitachi and Wave7 announced a joint development initiative for triple play B-PON in October of 2003 in order to take advantage of each company’s core competencies. Hitachi is one of the world’s leading technology companies and has a 10-year history of shaping PON standards. The company has the world’s largest installed base of PON equipment, with more than 400,000 FSAN-standard subscriber connections installed to date. Wave7 Optics has leading-edge expertise in last-mile video and telephony services using E-PON access technology. Together, the two companies created the triple play AMN1200 SFU ONT as Hitachi’s FSAN-compliant, targeted solution for the FTTH (Fiber To The Home) residential market. The product, manufactured, sold and supported by Hitachi’s world-class production and services organizations, is now available for deployment.
“The joint development project between Hitachi and Wave7 Optics has been an extremely positive experience and one that has produced a product that will lead the market,” said Frank Banks, VP Sales, Hitachi Telecom. “The new AMN1200 SFU provides the features and functionality that will enable service providers to profitably expand into new markets, and to use FTTH to generate new revenues in existing markets.”
“Wave7 Optics is pleased to combine our expertise in last-mile access and video systems with Hitachi’s corporate depth in optics and electronics,” said Emmanuel Vella, Chief Marketing Officer, Wave7 Optics. “Both companies have proven track records in the PON market, and today’s announcement represents a new benchmark in the availability of comprehensive, deployment-ready solutions.”
The AMN1200 SFU connects to Hitachi’s AMN1200 or AMN1210 OLTs (Optical Network Terminal) at distances of up to 20 km. Each OLT serves up to 704/1152 SFUs respectively, or a combination of SFUs and other ONT types. Each SFU terminates one strand of single-mode optical fiber cable from the OLT, and can provide the following service connections to residential subscribers:
- POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service): 2 ports
- 10/100 Base-T Ethernet: 2 ports
- RF Video with RF return: 1 port
The RF Return feature allows legacy set top boxes to communicate with the video head-end for control of video features such as PPV (Pay-per-View) and VoD (Video-on-Demand), reducing the cost of conversion to FTTH for service providers and end users.
About Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc.
Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc., a subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd., develops, manufactures and markets telecommunications equipment for the U.S. market. The company offers Access systems such as Ethernet B-PON, Point-to-Point, GbE-PON, ITU-compliant ‘triple play’ B-PON for FTTH/FTTB; ultra high-speed optical networking equipment such as DWDM and SONET systems; and customer premises products such as PBXs. For more information on Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc., visit http://www.hitachitelecom.com.
Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics and semiconductors, and provides industrial equipment and services
throughout North America. For more information on Hitachi America, visit http://www.hitachi.us.
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 326,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2003 (ended March 31, 2004) consolidated sales totaled 8,632.4 billion yen ($81.4 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company’s Website at http://www.hitachi.com.
