PETAH TIKVA, Israel -- ECI Telecom (NASDAQ: ECIL) today announced the formation of a new consortium designed to spearhead the development and implementation of Dynamic Spectrum Management (DSM).

DSM is a promising technology expected to provide reliable, fiber-optic-like rates over the existing copper infrastructure. DSM is expected to have a significant impact on the market, as the DSL industry is looking for solutions beyond VDSL2 to increase subscriber broadband rates.

ECI Telecom is leading this consortium; the other members who take part in this multidisciplinary approach are leading telecom operators including Telefonica and Bezeq, innovative vendors including Actelis, RIT Technologies and Amethist, as well as leading academic institutions, including the Technion, Bar Ilan University and Tel Aviv University.

The group is funded with an expected grant of 8 million Euros (US$10 million) over the next three years, and is being financed by the Chief Scientist Office of the Israeli Government.

"The main obstacle for the advancement of DSL technology is the interference ("crosstalk") generated from different DSL lines that share the same telephone cable binder," said Professor John Cioffi, Professor of Engineering at Stanford University, a pioneer of DSM research, who is also recognized as the inventor of the DMT line code. "DSM is a promising technology for the future evolution of broadband access networks using existing copper infrastructure."

ECI Telecom Ltd.