PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Photuris, a new transport systems developer, today announced it is entering into the metro regional market with a dynamic Optical Distribution System that merges wavelength power and SONET simplicity for interoffice networks. The company has unique optical innovations that give carriers a fully automated optical layer, judicious integration of WDM/TDM transport, and flexible, per-wavelength protection. The company's system has already passed NEBS Level 3 testing as well as carrier testing, and the product will be shipping to additional field trials in June 2002. Photuris' Optical Distribution System technology and proprietary innovations include the following key functions:

"To rise above current market alternatives, we knew we had to give metro regional carriers a dynamic architecture that would fill functional and operational gaps in both WDM and SONET transport, while delivering disruptive cost savings," stated Photuris CEO Mike Pisterzi. "Others' solutions cherry-pick a minimal set of carrier needs, often making trade-offs between features, performance and cost that result in solutions that are not well-matched for this segment. Photuris took on the challenge of delivering rich optical transport with the operational familiarity of SONET, providing an order-of-magnitude opex savings. We have met these needs without compromise. This is what makes us different in the marketplace." Photuris Inc.