Centillium Launches PON Chips

FREMONT, Calif. -- Centillium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: CTLM), a leading provider of broadband access solutions, today unveiled its full line of optical access solutions for the burgeoning Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) market.

The growing proliferation of bandwidth-hungry applications is driving demand for carrier-class, broadband access solutions capable of delivering next-generation integrated voice, data and video services. This increase in demand is no longer a simple debate over dial-up versus always-on Internet access, or an issue of DSL versus cable modems. End users have now become savvy owners of small residential networks with multiple family members (or co-workers in a SOHO situation) competing for Internet access, throughput is often an issue. The explosion of content-rich Web sites has also aggravated this need for bandwidth, and the upcoming wave of internet-enabled residential appliances does not promise a slowdown on this growing demand.

Fiber optical solutions, in particular Passive Optical Networks (PON), based on either the Ethernet protocol (known as EPON solutions) or Asynchronous Transfer Mode protocol (known as BPON solutions) offer service providers robust and future-proof network architectures that not only break the current bandwidth/distance paradigm but deliver true, triple-play services to customer premises at nearly symmetrical speeds and at more than 100 times those of DSL and cable modems.

"By leveraging our expertise in mixed-signal, System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solutions for high-speed broadband access, Centillium has developed a complete line of silicon products for the FTTP market that offers unparalleled levels of integration, innovation and economics," said Armando Pereira, general manager of Centillium's Optical Business Unit. "As system designers and service providers architect, develop and deploy Passive Optical Networks, Centillium is well positioned to supply innovative solutions to power this next generation of optical access equipment."

Centillium Communications Inc.