Zhone Goes to Western Penn.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Zhone Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZHNE), a global pioneer in FTTx network access solutions, today announced a new customer, QCOL, a western Pennsylvania-based internet services and triple play provider since 1998. QCOL will deploy Zhone’s industry leading MXK™ as its primary Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) access platform for the new fiber-to-the-home network it is building to deliver triple-play services to customers.

Specifically, Zhone’s MXK solution will equip QCOL to deliver affordable and reliable high speed Internet access, VoIP and video services to more than 2,000 subscribers across Fayette County, Pennsylvania, Garrett County, Maryland and Preston County, West Virginia, all in the northeastern United States beginning in August 2011. The widespread system capabilities of Zhone’s MXK platform benefit both QCOL and its subscribers, including utilization of up to one gigabit (1GB) capacity in the home and the ability to support the extreme bandwidth demands generated by multiple high-definition television (HDTV) screens, high definition digital video recorder (HD-DVR) content and video streaming within the home. The system scalability and flexibility of the MXK help future-proof the network for more advanced service rollout while also reducing recurring operating expenses (OPEX) and any adverse customer impact from rollout of these next-generation services.

“The residential and business customers we serve are demanding increasing amounts of bandwidth. We sought a solution to address not only current but future bandwidth requirements,” explained Brian Frazee and Doug Friend, owners of QCOL. “We selected Zhone for the impressive density offered by 8-port GPON cards, along with the MXK’s superior scale, effective network management capabilities and system flexibility to support multiples services in the same chassis. We were extremely intrigued by the cost savings anticipated for us and our customers.”Zhone Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: ZHNE)