Press Release

December 9, 2003 - EPB Electric Power in Chattanooga to Construct “Fiber-to-the-Business” Network Using the Last Mile Link™ System from Wave7 Optics

EPB Network Will Offer Minimum 1.5 Mbps of Bandwidth to Hundreds of Businesses and Medical and Educational Facilities in Southeastern Tennessee

Chattanooga, TN / Atlanta, GA -- December 9, 2003 – Wave7 Optics announced today they will provide the network and premises connection equipment for the new all-fiber “business Internet” service from EPB Telecom, a division of EPB in Chattanooga, one of the nation’s largest publicly-owned utility companies. The new network, which is already operational, will provide a minimum of “T-1” equivalent (1.5 Mbps) service for the latest voice and data services (e.g., 10/100 Ethernet), with the capacity to add video (CATV, videoconferencing, etc.) at a later date.

With this new network, EPB Telecom will be able to provide up to 500 Mbps (half a Gigabit) symmetrical upload and download service on a customized “per subscriber” basis for business customers. A 500 Mbps connection would represent approximately 300 times the bandwidth of a typical T-1, DSL or cable modem connection in the U.S. Only the Last Mile Link from Wave7 can provide such network and subscriber capacity, scalable in increments of 64 kbps.

“Of all the systems we considered, only Wave7’s could get us up and running at the price points we needed,” said Larry Hinds, VP of EPB Telecom. “Businesses will now have the option to move large amounts of information at much higher speeds, with increased security protection and unmatched reliability for a price that's extremely affordable. And with virtually unlimited expansion potential, customers that receive the service will have the flexibility to easily upgrade as their business and service needs grow. This immediate scalability will allow them to request a service upgrade with a simple phone call, and they can continue to add the bandwidth they need to continuously and effectively conduct their business.”

Wave7 Optics will deploy Last Mile Core™ equipment for “central office” and field installations and their Last Mile Gateway™ premises equipment over the next few years as both the service area and number of subscribers expand.

“This deployment shows that fiber-to-the-business networks can be done affordably and relatively quickly,” said Tom Tighe, CEO of Wave7 Optics. “A number of service providers have fiber deployed near business clusters in the suburbs, downtown urban areas and elsewhere. As it can be deployed in active or passive configurations, the Last Mile Link allows service providers to leverage their existing fiber plant in the most cost-effective way to deliver direct optical broadband services to their business customers.”

Furthermore, the LML uses standard data, telephone, T1/E1 and CATV interfaces at its customer premise devices accommodating existing home and business telephone, television and computer systems, meaning customers do not have to buy new equipment to get on the new all-optical network.

The LML is an IP (Internet protocol) and Ethernet standards-based advanced optical access system that provides all traditional “carrier-grade” telephone services (including fax), high-speed data (e.g., Internet service) and both analog and digital video (including IP streaming video). Featuring industry-leading privacy and security encryption techniques and industry-leading “quality of service” mechanisms designed for business applications, the LML overcomes the high-fiber counts, limited distance range and high “central office” equipment costs that have stymied the growth of FTTX/FTTP systems.

About EPB
A non-profit agency of the City of Chattanooga, EPB was established in 1935, with the sole purpose of providing electric power to the people of the greater Chattanooga area. Today EPB is still one of the largest publicly-owned providers of electric power in the country and a provider of innovative and highly-reliable telecommunications services, connecting nearly 160,000 residents and hundreds of businesses in a 600 square-mile area that includes greater Chattanooga as well as parts of the surrounding counties and areas of north Georgia.

About Wave7 Optics
Wave7 Optics Inc. is a market leader in the fiber-to-the-home and -business (FTTX) optical access market. The company's Last Mile Link® optical access system effectively overcomes the cost and implementation barriers that have to date stymied the deployment of FTTX systems.

Wave7 Optics has pioneered the first intelligent PON (passive optical network) system, which is effectively a generation ahead of comparable PON technologies in both cost and capability. For instance, the “OLT” (optical line terminal) equivalent can be deployed either in the field or central office and the Last Mile Link uses lower cost IP- (Internet Protocol) and Ethernet-standards based components to provide a "triple play" of voice, video and very high-speed data services to residential, business and multi-tenant or multi-dwelling building customers. The Last Mile Link offers service providers a particular advantage with regards to video in that it is the only platform that supports upstream RF return signals and readily accommodates HDTV.

The company has been named a "Hot Start Up" company for 2003 by two of the world's leading trade journals -- America's Network and Telecommunications.

For more information please contact emmanuel.vella@w7optics.com.

<Back>