Softbank BB began offering a new Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) service in Tokyo. UTStarcom has received initial purchase orders valued in excess of $60 million for its Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GEPON) solution. UTStarcom expects to recognize revenue for the contract in the second half of 2005.
UTStarcom's GEPON product family includes a BBS1000 Optical Line Termination system (OLT) for deployment at the Central Office (CO) as well as an Optical Network Unit (ONU) for deployment at the customer's premises. The OLT provides a direct optical interface to the IP core, while the ONU terminates the PON at the customer's premises. Together, the two units complete the end-to-end optical last mile, providing up to one gigabit per second of bandwidth to residential and business customers. The platform provides Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching and routing functionality in support of Triple Play services. http://www.utstar.comhttp://www.softbank.co.jp
- As of 30-Aug-2004, Japan had 1,601,432 FTTH lines in service, according to the country's Ministry of Home Management, Public Affairs,
Posts and Telecommunications, up from 960,926 FTTH users at the start of 2004. For comparison, as of 30-Aug-2004, DSL users in Japan numbered 12,549.066. - As of 30-Aug-2004, Yahoo! BB had approximately 4,426,000 broadband lines in service and 4,183,000 VoIP accounts. The company had 3,610 switching centers in service.
- Last month, UTStarcom was awarded a new contract valued at approximately $20 million to supply its NetRing 10000 STM-64 multiservice optical transport product to the SOFTBANK Group. SOFTBANK intends to deploy the equipment in the construction of a new network with Japan Telecom. UTStarcom NetRing platform provides aggregation, grooming, cross-connect, and transport functionality to deliver high-density, highly efficient STM-1 to STM-64, PDH (E1/DS1, E3/DS3), Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and ATM services in SDH-based carrier networks.
