Ericsson New Zealand has today signed an agreement with Northpower to supply the Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) technology component to the Northpower Fibre Ultra-Fast Broadband network in Whangarei.

Ericsson to supply the Gigabit Passive Optical Networking - GPON - technology component to the Northpower Fibre Ultra-Fast Broadband network in Whangarei.
GPON ‘lights the last mile’ by translating data into flashes of light for ultra-fast transmission along optical fiber.
GPON is the main broadband access technology selected for the UFB which enables an optic fiber cable network to deliver data rich transmissions, such as interactive TV, real time video communications and professional services.

Ericsson New Zealand has today signed an agreement with Northpower to supply the Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) technology component to the Northpower Fibre Ultra-Fast Broadband network in Whangarei.

The Northpower Fibre network will be one of the first commercially available GPON enabled active network developed under the Government’s UFB initiative. This deal contributes to the New Zealand Government’s ambition to deliver a Nationwide UFB network to three-quarters of the population by 2019 so that New Zealanders can experience vastly improved speeds than they typically do today.

GPON enables data transmission at extremely fast broadband speeds, which can then support a wide range of data rich applications and services. This could be healthcare and education services through interactive TV, real time business communications through video and other data rich professional services.

“Northpower is the overall contractor to Northpower Fibre and is responsible for delivering this Ultra-Fast Broadband network design and build in Whangarei,” said Northpower General Manager Network Graham Dawson. “With this in mind, Northpower has selected Ericsson for the provisioning of the GPON component of the layer 2 services as we see this as the most effective solution for meeting Northpower Fibre’s contractual obligations with our Government to complete this network by June 2014. Northpower values the expertise that Ericsson brings to this partnership and we believe Ericsson’s technology offering is the best fit for powering the GPON aspects of the network electronics”.

“We chose to work with Ericsson based on its lengthy and successful New Zealand experience and its strong global reputation. We were impressed with the performance of Ericsson staff and technology during the laboratory testing phase of the contract process and this added further weight to our final choice,” said Mr Dawson.

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“Ericsson has operated in New Zealand for over 100 years. This deep history combined with our global market position, means a proven, trusted, safe and innovative ally when it comes to understanding and delivering new services to the New Zealand marketplace,” Ericsson NZ Country Manager Alfred Ling said.

“We are proud to put Ericsson’s globally proven GPON technology to work for Northpower Fibre and its customers so they can benefit from faster download speeds,” said Alfred Ling.

Ericsson’s GPON solution will enable Northpower Fibre to build a network, along with other components, that is able to deliver data many times faster than the initial starting speeds. The network will be deployed to deliver the UFB-defined initial speeds of 100mbps (downstream) and 50Mbps (upstream) to end users. Importantly, the network has the technology to easily increase capacity and data speed as demand grows.

GPON technology is specifically designed for fiber connectivity. It connects across the optical fibers that reach from the exchange to the user premises (in the first instance businesses, schools and hospitals) to enable high-speed access to the Internet. GPON enables data transmission at extremely fast broadband speeds, which can then support a wide range of data rich applications and services. This could be healthcare and education services through interactive TV, real time business communications through video and other data rich professional services.

Ericsson has substantial experience completing large GPON and fiber projects around the world in regions including North America, China, Brazil, India, the Middle East, North America and Sweden.

Ericsson Deep Fiber Access is a complete end-to-end solution of passive fiber, outside plant components and active equipment along with a comprehensive service offering. The EDA broadband access equipment portfolio provides simple, smart and scalable solutions for high-speed, multimedia rich, next generation IP-based networks. The world's leading operators have selected Ericsson's innovative Deep Fiber Access deploying the EDA GPON, EDA P2P, EDA WDM PON and EDA DSL solutions in more than 160 FTTX and 110 copper-based networks around the globe.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT

Quentin Bright on behalf of Ericsson New Zealand

Mobile +64 (021) 776 447

Selina O’Connor

Communications Manager, Ericsson

Mobile: +61 6467 78 79 70

Steve Macmillan, Public Affairs Manager, Northpower

Mobile +64 (029) 770 4693

Steve.MACMILLAN@northpower.com

Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. Ericsson is the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies, and provides support for networks with over 2 billion subscribers and has the leading position in managed services. The company's portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, telecom services, software, broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and the media industry. The Sony Ericsson and ST-Ericsson joint ventures provide consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.

Ericsson is advancing its vision of being the "prime driver in an all-communicating world" through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 180 countries, more than 90,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 203.3 billion (USD 28.2 billion) in 2010. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.

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About Northpower

Northpower is a Northland owned electricity distribution company with over 54,000 electricity customers connected to its network over an area of some 5,700 square kilometres covering the Whangarei and Kaipara districts in Northland. Northpower Contracting, a division of Northpower, is a leading supplier of electricity distribution network design, maintenance and construction services with branches across New Zealand’s North Island and in Perth, Western Australia. More about Northpower is available at www.northpower.com.