Hitachi names first U.S. GPON customer

Hitachi Telecom USA has named its first customer for the new gigabit passive optical networking (GPON) equipment the company introduced last week. The client will be one of the first in the U.S. to deploy GPON at speeds of 2.4 Mb/s downstream and 1.2 Mb/s upstream.

Competitive local exchange carrier ComSpanUSA, together with Ledcor Technical Services, will deploy Hitachi’s AMN1220 GPON platform in the city of Bandon, Ore., a West Coast resort community known for its golf courses.

Ledcor will begin deploying the gear in December, with plans to reach more than 2500 homes and businesses, both greenfield and brownfield. The network will be owned by the city, built by Ledcor and operated by ComSpanUSA, according to Hitachi.

As equipment vendors anticipate three Bell companies issuing a GPON-related request for proposals soon, Hitachi is claiming a head start over rivals with its domestic December shipment. Wave7 Optics announced last week that Falcon Broadband, a Colorado CLEC, would deploy its new Trident7 fiber-to-the-premises platform this year, but it would not be GPON-enabled until early next year. Alcatel’s first GPON customer announcement, made in August, was outside the U.S., with the Kuwaiti government. Optical Solutions has several U.S. customers for its GPON gear but does not yet have products that offer speeds of 2.4 Mb/s downstream and 1.2 Mb/s upstream.