Alcatel-Lucent 7342 ISAM FTTU Solution Granted 'Rural Development Acceptance', 'Buy American' Status

Murray Hill, NJ - Alcatel-Lucent recently announced that the Alcatel-Lucent 7342 ISAM FTTU (Fiber to the User) solution has been granted both "Rural Development Acceptance" and "Buy American" status by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development agency for deployment under the Rural Development Broadband Loan and Loan Guarantee Program.

USDA acceptance means that communities of up to 20,000 inhabitants can now install Alcatel-Lucent's 7342 ISAM FTTU solution using funding obtained under the USDA Rural Development funding programs. GPON offers the bandwidth to support -- over a single fiber optic cable -- multiple simultaneous HDTV channels, high-speed Internet access, and voice services. Alcatel-Lucent's 7342 ISAM FTTU solution will be listed in the "ae -- Access Equipment" category, FTTH Systems.

"Alcatel-Lucent remains the uncontested market leader in broadband access with more than 150 million DSL lines shipped to date, and a cumulative DSL market share of 45%, more than three times that of our nearest competitor," said Mike Dobbs, vice president for Alcatel-Lucent's FTTH activities. "More than 180 customers have adopted the ISAM product family -- the industry's first true high-end IP access fiber-to-the-home platform that accommodates a wide range of network flavors and topologies. Alcatel-Lucent is engaged in more than 70 FTTx projects around the world, more than 55 of which are with GPON."

Alcatel-Lucent 7342 ISAM Fiber-to-the-User (FTTU) solution, which uses gigabit passive optical networking (GPON) to enable service providers to cost- effectively deliver high revenue, user-centric broadband services today, over a single optical fiber. The scalability of the Alcatel-Lucent FTTH solution makes it ideal for an initial network rollout and widespread deployment. With this solution, service providers are able to offer any service mix, with increased reliability and lower maintenance costs, which helps maximize profitability. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent's FTTH solution, visit www.alcatel-lucent.com/ftth.

The Broadband Access Loan program provides loans for funding the costs of construction, improvement, and acquisition of facilities to provide broadband service to eligible rural communities.

SOURCE: Alcatel-Lucent