Redback Finds BPL Angle

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Redback Networks Inc. (NASDAQ: RBAK), a leading provider of next-generation broadband networking systems, today announced that PowerCom Network Hong Kong Ltd. has selected Redback’s next-generation SmartEdge® Service Gateway platform for managing and aggregating broadband subscribers and services deployed using electrical power line cables throughout the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Redback is working through a local reseller to implement the solution.

PowerCom’s residential customers simply plug in a PowerCom modem to a standard electrical socket in a home or hotel reached by the service to receive high-speed broadband Internet service. The first generation and latest second generation PowerCom technology provides subscribers with 1.5 to 10 megabits per second of bandwidth—very high speed for Broadband over Power Lines (BPL). The now emerging BPL market has been estimated to reach up to $2.5B by 2010 according to some industry research groups.

“Utilizing existing power lines as a distribution network and the SmartEdge Service Gateway as the platform to apply intelligence, aggregation and management gives us a tremendous advantage in offering fast, affordable broadband services,” said Mr. Gerald Ma, director of PowerCom Network Hong Kong Limited. “With the next-generation Redback platform, we have created a Smart Broadband Network with the reliability, flexibility and scalability we need for both today and the future.”

“We are pleased to see the innovative work of PowerCom Network Hong Kong in applying our SmartEdge Service Gateway platform to Broadband over Power Lines,” said Simon Williams, vice president for the Asia Pacific region of Redback Networks. “PowerCom Network Hong Kong has a compelling vision for pervasive broadband and progressive services.”

Redback Networks Inc.