ECI Extends SAN

PETAH TIKVA, Israel -- ECI Telecom (NASDAQ: ECIL) today announced its next-generation Storage Area Network (SAN) extension solution, the BroadGateR SAN XT, for transport networks. The SAN XT enables disaster recovery and business continuity over Metro or Wide Area networks for hundreds of kilometers. When using the SAN XT, traffic won't be interrupted in the event of hardware or line problems, such as a fiber cut or power failure. Mission-critical data is protected 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

According to Gartner Group's 2004-2008 Forecast for Storage Network Infrastructure, this market is forecast to grow at a 21 percent compound annual growth rate to $4.9 billion by 2008. The SAN extension market will grow at 17% percent compound annual growth rate to $370 Million by 2008. The BroadGate SAN XT meets the growing demand for disaster recovery and business continuity services by integrating with ECI's XDMR multi-service provisioning platform (MSPP) family. Carriers now have an end-to-end solution for connecting SAN clients and introducing new storage transport services to enterprise customers over their existing networks. Being fully interoperable with carriers' SDH/SONET infrastructure, it is cost-efficient, and easy to install and use.

BroadGate SAN XT features ultra-high throughput of up to 2.5 Gbps for high-end storage applications over long distances. It also compensates for a delay of up to 1,600 km eight times the current industry average of 200 km. Its small footprint and minimal power usage make it ideal for enterprise CPE applications and for crowded Central Offices. The BroadGate SAN XT successfully interoperates with IBM TotalStorage products, bearing the IBM TotalStorage Proven Mark(TM).

"ECI recognized the need for an efficient end-to-end solution that addresses disaster recovery and business continuity," said Eitan Yehuda, Vice President of Marketing at the Optical Networking Division of ECI Telecom. "Our new solution enables operators to provide low cost and efficient multi-application SAN services by offering partially populated service over SDH/SONET over indefinite distances using the shared resources of the MAN or WAN."

ECI Telecom Ltd.