RICHARDSON, Texas -- Fujitsu Network Communications, the market leader in the optical telecommunications market, today announced its FLASHWAVE® 4100 next generation multiservice optical networking platform gains "RUS Acceptance" and "Buy American" status from the Rural Utilities Service branch of the United States Department of Agriculture.The popular, carrier-hardened FLASHWAVE 4100 Multi-Service Provisioning Platform is optimized for delivering new services and leveraging carriers' optical transport investments. The FLASHWAVE 4100 platform is optimized for simplicity, small size, low cost and flexibility to enable carriers to provision services more profitably. The "RUS Acceptance" and "Buy American" status permits the product to qualify for governmental financial assistance when deployed by a rural utility. The Technical Standards Committee "A" (Telecommunications) granted "RUS Acceptance" to the Fujitsu FLASHWAVE 4100 platform. This status is effective for a two-year period."The FLASHWAVE 4100 multiservice platform efficiently and reliably handles the convergence of voice and data at the edge of metro networks," says Parker Blackwell, vice president metro products for Fujitsu Network Communications. "This system is designed to fit into today's network, leveraging the enormous capital investment that service providers have made in SONET, and provides a low-cost, evolutionary migration to next-generation networks for delivery of new profitable services. Fujitsu not only gives its rural customers a technical advantage and low cost of ownership, but also an ability to apply for RUS financial funding."Fujitsu Network Communications Inc. (FNC)