FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Kerri Connors
CHEN PR
781-466-8282
kconnors@chenpr.com
Richard Williams
Sycamore Networks
978-250-2909
richard.williams@sycamorenet.com
SYCAMORE NETWORKS UNVEILS INTELLIGENT OPTICAL NETWORKING PLATFORM FOR END-TO-END HIGH SPEED SERVICE DELIVERY THROUGHOUT THE NETWORK - ACCESS TO BACKBONE
Sycamore SN 8000 Intelligent Optical Network System Redefines the Economics of OC-3/OC-12 Service Delivery
CHELMSFORD, Mass., November 8, 1999 -- Sycamore Networks, a leader in intelligent optical networking, today announced enhanced functionality to its SN 8000 Intelligent Optical Network Node that will provide economic support of access, interoffice, regional, and backbone applications through one common hardware and software platform. The SN 8000 enables service providers to mix-and-match service, filter and amplifier cards to address the metropolitan, regional and national high-speed service demands of their customers. The unique "plug and play" features of the SN 8000 and innovative OC-3/OC-12 service modules will enable the rapid and economical "turn up" of OC-3, OC-12 and OC-48 services when and where they are needed. The SN 8000 additionally extends service delivery to 1,600 kilometers without electrical regeneration -- delivering twice the coverage area at an 80 percent per wave cost savings over electrical regeneration.
"We have tested the SN 8000 long haul system successfully and plan to deploy its capabilities quickly," said Joe Turcotte, senior vice president and chief operations officer of the network unit of Williams Communications Group, Inc. (NYSE:WCG). "The SN 8000 will enable us to create new routes in weeks, not months, for the provisioning of our Optical Wave Services." Service providers need efficient and cost effective solutions to rapidly deploy new services, "just in time." Traditional Synchronous Optical NETwork (SONET)/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) solutions are complex, costly and typically take months to deploy new services. Intelligent optical networking creates a flexible, scalable and intelligent network foundation for delivery of high-speed services directly from the optical layer over lightpaths and enables service providers to deploy new services economically, reliably and "just in time."
"As public network traffic demands move rapidly from being voice-centric to data-centric, issues of scaling the network for explosive growth become critical," said Jeff Kiel, Sycamore's vice president of product marketing. "Our goal continues to be to enable our service provider customers to migrate easily to intelligent optical networking while protecting current investments and to deliver new innovative and competitive services quickly and cost effectively."
Redefining the Economics of Service Delivery
The new OC-3/OC-12 (STM-1/4) service modules redefine the economics of OC-N service delivery, with high density, flexibility and efficient utilization of individual wavelengths. Using a unique shared wavelength approach, up to four OC-12/STM-4 services or up to sixteen OC-3/STM-1 services can be supported per wave, reducing the cost of delivering low-speed services directly from the optical network. Compared to today's "burn the wave" approach and traditional SONET/SDH solutions, the SN 8000 sets new standards for density, supporting up to 320 OC-3 services in a single seven foot bay that saves as much as 70 percent of the equipment costs of traditional network solutions. Additionally, to quickly meet customer requirements, service providers will be able to provision each port's density via software for any mix of OC-3 & OC-12, SONET & SDH, and level of protection.
"The scalability and flexibility of Sycamore's approach addresses the competitive environment that demands new services be added quickly and cost effectively," said Robert Pommer, chief operating officer of Universal Access. "By saving on space, power and additional requirements for equipment, the SN 8000 offers the ability to turn up new services without long planning cycles or being locked into the type of services deployed." Universal Access is a business-to-business Internet infrastructure organization that combines information management and multiple vendor interconnection facilities to provide end-to-end network access services.
"The market opportunity for delivery of cost effective OC-3/OC-12 services is virtually untapped," said Dana Cooperson, senior analyst, RHK, Inc. (Ryan Hankin Kent). "Carriers and service providers have been constrained by traditional approaches and the migration to optical networks will provide for the economical delivery of low-speed wave services. A single hardware/software platform for local and long haul applications will further minimize operational costs."
Sycamore's new OC-3/OC-12 modules collapse numerous network functional elements onto a single card, including a SONET/SDH Add/Drop Multiplexer (ADM), SONET/SDH CrossConnect, and Dense Wave Division Multiplexer (DWDM). Additionally, these modules also incorporate a complete OC-3/OC-12 Bit Error Rate (BER) test system, enabling service providers to test and qualify services remotely without the need for stand alone expensive test equipment. This streamlining of the network elements eliminates the need for additional equipment, drastically reduces costs and simplifies management.
Breaking the Long Haul Distance Barrier
Electrical regeneration of waves over distance requires optical to electrical conversions that reduce performance and add to the network costs. Sycamore's innovative Optical Gain Equalization Technology breaks through the distance barrier by extending up to 1,600 kilometers the distance that waves can travel without electrical regeneration. This extension represents a distance of more than twice that of any other commercially available optical network product. For long haul applications in particular, this means better performance and lower costs because the transmission is all optical.
To maximize fiber utilization over long haul networks, the SN 8000 is the only optical network product that supports bi-directional or uni-directional transport of waves over a single fiber. The bi-directional capability enables carriers and service providers to leverage a single piece of fiber to deploy high-speed services over long haul networks at a very low cost of entry and directly from the optical layer. With only two fibers, a carrier can enable full work and protection configurations and support up to 96 wavelengths per fiber.
Additionally, for increased bandwidth the SN 8000 can support uni-directional transport through dedicated wavelength operation, supporting up to 120 wavelengths. This choice of bi- or uni-directional flexibility leverages fiber assets and ensures that carrier customers will not be constrained in expanding their optical networks.
One of the primary benefits of the SN 8000 in any configuration is the ability to maintain traffic in the optical domain as it traverses the network. Optical signals passed from the backbone to an access portion of the network are handed off in original form, eliminating the need for costly optical to electrical conversions and simplifying the network infrastructure.
System Intelligence through a Software Foundation
Assessing capacity across the network quickly is critical to keep pace with new requirements for scale and provisioning of high-speed services. The SN 8000 Intelligent Optical Network system is managed end-to-end by Sycamore's SILVX Optical Network Management System (ONMS). The SILVX Network Management System delivers end-to-end management of the optical layer, enabling carriers to view the entire network topology, automatically assess capacity across the network, provision services end-to-end, and manage and correlate faults for the complete network.
Pricing and Availability
The new long haul bi-directional system modules will be available in Q4 of calendar 1999, with a base system U.S. list price starting at $20,000 and OC-48/STM-16 line cards list priced at $60,000 each. The long haul uni-directional system module will be available in Q1 calendar 2000, with similar pricing. The OC-3/12 and STM-1/4 module supporting up to four services per wavelength will be in beta Q4 1999 and available by Q1 2000. The OC-3/12 and STM-1/4 module supporting up to sixteen services per wavelength will be in beta Q1 2000 and available in Q2 2000. Pricing for the four-port cards starts at $50,000 and for the sixteen-port cards at $70,000.
About Sycamore Networks
Sycamore Networks was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Chelmsford, Massachusetts. The company combines significant experience in data networking with expertise in optics to develop intelligent optical networking solutions for carriers and service providers. Sycamore's products are based on a common software foundation, enabling concentration on the delivery of services and end-to-end optical networking. Sycamore's products and product plans include optical transport and switching systems and end-to-end optical network management solutions. Contact Sycamore Networks at www.sycamorenet.com.
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Except for the historical information contained herein, we wish to caution you that certain matters discussed in this news release constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed under the heading 'Risk Factors' contained in the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (file no. 333-84635) filed by the Company in connection with its initial public offering and which became effective October 21, 1999. Forward looking statements include statements regarding the future or the Company's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "will" or similar words. There may be events in the future that the may affect these matters. The Company assumes no obligations to update the information included in this news release. |
