Oakland, CA — July 12, 2012 — Zhone Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZHNE), a global leader in FTTx network access solutions, today announced a new MXK™ deployment with the Pend Oreille County Public Utility District (POPUD), a public utility service provider in the Northeastern corner of Washington State. The Community Network System, a division of POPUD, was established as a wholesale broadband provider for the businesses in this rural county of Washington state. With the recent bid awarded to Zhone, the CNS can continue its vision to build a fiber network to support fast delivery of more affordable and reliable high-speed Internet access, VoIP and video services to many of the homes and business premises in this rural community.
As connectivity demands increase from businesses, as well as residents, the unmatched flexibility and scalability of the Zhone MXK platform is sought after by service providers across the globe. In particular, the community of Pend Oreille County bonded together in support of applying for – and winning – the stimulus grant. An overwhelming response from residents and businesses alike made the project possible. The ability of the MXK to provide connectivity in facilitating network and service upgrades to FTTx has been repeatedly demonstrated in similar projects throughout the United States. Other recent deployments for broadband stimulus projects include Consolidated Communications, the Clarksville Department of Electricity, Grand River Mutual Telephone and Green Hills Telephone Corporation.
“With our $34 million stimulus grant, we chose to work with Zhone and utilize its innovative technology to achieve the performance requirements necessary to address the needs of our newly-upgraded network,” emphasized Joe Onley, manager at the Community Network System. “Zhone’s platform and complementary offerings are expected to competently deliver outstanding IP video, voice and broadband data to our customers, including residents and businesses such as schools, doctor offices and local government institutions. Zhone’s product flexibility and collaborative approach were critical factors in our decision as well.”
“The passion and dedication of Pend Oreille PUD customers for this rural broadband stimulus project demonstrates the importance of fiber to the future of communities both in the U.S. and internationally,” said Brian Caskey, chief marketing officer for Zhone. “Service providers value the assets offered by the core functionalities of the MXK, including flexibility, scalability and ease of use. Our domestic and international customers continue to recognize it as one of the leading solutions for FTTx deployments, and we have extensive experience managing the complexity of multi-service access. Zhone’s success in building the telecom industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of scalable FTTx solutions is a direct reflection of the reliability our products and the value provided to our customers, as they work to deliver the newest services to their subscribers.”
To date, Zhone has deployed more than 3,000 of its fully redundant, carrier-grade all-IP MXK platforms with more than 150 service providers globally, signaling an FTTx customer growth rate of more than 450 percent in the three-year period from January 2009 to January 2012. Total subscriber capacity supported by these deployments now exceeds 20 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 360 1G Active Ethernet subscribers or for those that choose GPON, 3,600 100 Mbps subscribers. Zhone has also driven more than 8,500 percent ONT growth and more than 9,800 percent OLT growth since solution inception.
