Ikanos, STMicro Interop DMT-VDSL

TORONTO -- Ikanos Communications and STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM) today announced that they have successfully achieved standards-compliant, chip-level interoperability based on Discrete Multi-ToneÐVery-high-data rate Digital Subscriber Line (DMT-VDSL) technology. Their chips comply with the International Telecommunications Union's (ITU-T), European Telecommunications Standards Institute's (ETSI), and the American National Standards Institute's (ANSI) standard band plans, including Plan 997 and Plan 998, and operate at data rates of over 50 Mbps. The two companies will demonstrate interoperability during the FS-VDSL Committee meeting, March 3-6, 2003 in Toronto, Canada. Today's announcement marks a significant milestone for the DMT-VDSL Initiative, which was founded in February 2002 by leading semiconductor vendors GlobespanVirata, Ikanos, and STMicroelectronics. Successful interoperability proves that these companies are delivering on their promise to provide reliable, high-quality VDSL-based data, video, and voice services to homes and business. "As a leader in delivering DMT-VDSL silicon solutions today, part of our responsibility is to enable standards-based, mass-market adoption of DMT-VDSL" said Behrooz Rezvani, founder and CTO at Ikanos Communications. "Standards-compliant, chip-level interoperability is a crucial milestone for equipment vendors and carriers alike. Because members of the DMT-VDSL initiative all offer unique feature sets, carriers now have a choice of services they can deliver to their subscribers." "As demonstrated through this interoperability event, the DMT approach allows our companies to maintain superior flexibility and compatibility with existing services. Since carriers have already standardized on DMT for their ADSL transmission, the backward compatibility of Zipper-DMT VDSL products with ADSL allows us to expand our current offering while giving customers a cost effective, scaleable solution," said Leon Cloetens, vice president of the Telecom Group and General Manager of the Access Products Division of STMicroelectronics. "Our high involvement in developing standards-compliant DMT-VDSL products allow us to offer our chipset solutions to equipment vendors and carriers immediately." Alcatel, the world's leading supplier of DSL technology, is supportive of multi-vendor interoperability that accelerates the market for VDSL solutions. Ikanos Communications Inc.STMicroelectronics NV