SPOKANE, Wash., and TOKYO -- World Wide Packets, the pioneering solutions provider for Ethernet broadband connectivity, and Hitachi Information Technology Co., Ltd. (Hitachi-IT), one of Japan's leading information technology network integrators, today announced an agreement establishing the industry's first strategic Ethernet to the Subscriber(TM) broadband partnership in Japan. Under terms of the agreement, World Wide Packets and Hitachi-IT will offer customers comprehensive broadband solutions designed to aggressively address emerging high-growth opportunities, specifically the burgeoning multi-tenant and multi-dwelling (MxU) markets in Japan. "A number of significant activities are fueling the explosive growth in Japan's broadband market," said Bernard Daines, CEO of World Wide Packets. "These include deregulation of the NTT monopoly, deployment of fiber to the home (FTTH) to an estimated 10 million subscribers by 2005 through a planned subsidy by the National Government to municipalities, along with the funding of new ventures and technologies by national and municipal governments. Most importantly, the National Government is also actively supporting the deployment of fiber optics networks in rural areas."World Wide Packets Inc.Hitachi Information Technology Co. Ltd.