Zhone’s zNIDs and MXK FTTx Platforms Selected by the City of Salisbury for Municipal Fiber Project

Salisbury Seeds Community Cohesion and Economic Growth Through Advanced Communications Services

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zhone Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZHNE), a global leader in network access solutions, today announced The City of Salisbury in North Carolina has selected Zhone’s MXK and zNID Fiber to the Home (FTTH) solutions to serve as the bedrock platforms for a visionary municipal broadband initiative now underway. Salisbury officials cite interactive HDTV, telemedicine, advanced emergency services and greater community cohesion as potential differentiators in attracting knowledge workers and seeding new business growth in the shifting digital economy.

“Zhone’s FTTx system proved to be the most powerful solution with twice the capacity over other platforms on the market. That nets out to significantly lowered bandwidth costs, while giving us the freedom to grow network services as we grow our city.”

Leveraging fundamental design advancements in non-blocking architecture, Zhone’s MXK platform and zNID Optical Network Terminals (ONTs) are optimized to support unicast media streams that require vast amounts of dedicated bandwidth for applications like interactive HD video and telemedicine. For Salisbury, Zhone’s integrated approach to FTTH results in lowered equipment costs, increased network control, and targeted service differentiation on the full range of FTTx services.

“We don’t want to rely on the technology or timeline of existing carriers to meet our goals for a communications network that gives us a competitive advantage in attracting new businesses to our city,” said Mike Crowell, director of broadband services for Salisbury. “Zhone’s FTTx system proved to be the most powerful solution with twice the capacity over other platforms on the market. That nets out to significantly lowered bandwidth costs, while giving us the freedom to grow network services as we grow our city.”

Salisbury officials conducted an exhaustive feasibility study, including case studies, user satisfaction surveys and a thorough business case analysis before commencement of the project. Precedence showed a dramatic increase in service adoption when customers had the choice of municipally owned broadband service, surveyors said.

“The City of Salisbury has done a phenomenal job on all fronts of this project, from platform selection and network planning, to building enthusiastic commitment from the community,” said Brian Caskey, Chief Marketing Officer for Zhone. “We’re proud to be a part of a project that serves as a model of excellence for other cities planning municipal broadband initiatives.”

About The City of Salisbury

The City of Salisbury is an equal opportunity employer with over 180 different job classifications and 400 full time positions. For more information regarding the City of Salisbury and its services and departments, or to learn more about Salisbury’s municipal fiber project, please visit www.salisburync.gov

About Zhone Technologies — Access for a Converging World

Zhone Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZHNE) is a global leader in multi-service access solutions, serving more than 700 of the world's most innovative network operators. The company offers the industry's only fully-integrated portfolio of MSAP, FTTx, EFM and Wi-Fi access technologies resulting in improved network agility and reduced costs in delivering the full spectrum of access services, including residential and business broadband, VoIP, and High-Definition IPTV — over copper, fiber, and wireless. Zhone is headquartered in California and its MSAP products are manufactured in the USA in a facility that is emission, waste-water and CFC free.

Zhone, the Zhone logo, and all Zhone product names are trademarks of Zhone Technologies, Inc. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective holders.