Finisar Sticks EPON in an SFP

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Finisar Corporation (NASDAQ: FNSR), a leading provider of optical communication devices for networking and computing connectivity, today announced that its EPON (Ethernet Passive Optical Network) Stick is available as the first Multi-Source Agreement (MSA) Small Form-factor Pluggable ONU (Optical Networking Unit) that interoperates with other EPON equipment based on CableLabs DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON (DPoE) specifications. Finisar actively participated in the development of the DPoE 1.0 specifications and the recent interoperability testing at CableLabs.

As cable operators further penetrate the business services market, the DPoE effort will decrease the work required to turn-up new customers and add new services for existing customers. Using their existing provisioning systems and processes built around DOCSIS, operators can deliver both IP and Ethernet based services with DPoE products like the EPON Stick.

"We are proud that Finisar's EPON Stick is the first in an MSA SFP footprint compatible with EPON and DPoE," said Dr. Jianhui Zhou, vice-president and general manager of Access Products at Finisar. "It offers operators the advantages of automated provisioning with DPoE, while still allowing the flexibility of using a wide variety of Ethernet network interface devices, integrated access devices, switches, and routers.

Finisar's EPON Stick offers pluggable transceiver optics and a complete EPON MAC with DPoE provisioning within the SFP package. This allows an operator to insert the EPON Stick into any SFP host and operate a single demarcation device on the customer premise. The reduced complexity, reduced power consumption, and increased reliability of a single box solution are very attractive to both the operator and their customers or subscribers. For those operators that either do not yet have DOCSIS provisioning or have not yet used it for business services, the EPON Stick can be deployed with any EPON system and will work with DPoE when they are ready to rapidly scale up deployments with DOCSIS provisioning in the future.

Finisar Corp. (Nasdaq: FNSR)