Stockholm // 2009-02-09

PacketFront takes market lead with highest density green PON (GPON)

New Metrostar products delivers industry´s lowest per subscriber power consumtion.

PacketFront, the European market leader in fiber to the home broadband, has launched a set of products for gigabit PON (GPON), the ITU-T standard for passive optical networks. This also marks the introduction of PacketFront’s new Metrostar series of metro/access switches.

The first product, the Metrostar 2016, provides the industry’s highest density GPON OLT combined with the lowest per subscriber power consumption. Able to connect up to 1024 Optical Network Terminals (ONT) in a single 1RU form factor, the MetroStar 2000 can connect four times the current industry standard – or up to 40,000 ONTs at a 1:64 split – in a standard rack.  However, the power consumption per ONT is less than half when compared to competing OLT solutions.

The second product, the Metrostar 8008, provides a carrier class multiservice access node (MSAN) compact chassis with multiple line-card slots for gigabit active ethernet and GPON OLTs. The advanced L2 and L3 feature set allows the platform to also serve in the aggregation/distribution layer of the network.
Both systems offer a range of uplink-modules including 10 gigabit ethernet uplinks and redundant AC or DC power options.

Accompanying the OLTs is also a range of ONT products with different LAN port configuration. Development of a GPON version of the successful modular DRG Ease platform is ongoing with expected market introduction in Q3 of 2009.

“PacketFront pioneered the active ethernet broadband FTTH. We now offer our customers a choice to use either active or passive infrastructure – even to mix them as best fit their business case, but still having the complete broadband service control and flexibility PacketFront is well known for”, said Hubert Schanne, CEO of PacketFront. “The Metrostar products deliver carrier class metro network functionality in a form factor meeting central-office requirements. I am particularly proud that we can achieve this with an environmentally friendly focus.  Reducing power consumption is an important concern for our industry”.

Customer shipment of the Metrostar product line and DRG ONTs will commence in Q2 of 2009.

PacketFront is a gold sponsor at the FTTH Council in Copenhagen on February 11- 12 and will be exhibiting their new solutions on booth G08.