Hitachi Communication Technologies America, Inc. today announced that Hitachi's Salira DePON product family has been accepted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) for use on projects funded by the Rural Telecom Infrastructure and by the Broadband Loan and Loan Guarantee Programs. The Hitachi Salira product line is listed in category "ae", "Access Equipment" on the RUS List of Materials. RUS listing also means that the Hitachi Salira GEPON products can be deployed under the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act). Within the ARRA, RUS is managing the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP), with a total of $2.5 billion to be awarded to build broadband infrastructure in un-served and under-served rural areas.
 
USDA RUS listing allows broadband service providers serving communities of up to 20,000 population to install Hitachi's Salira DePON solution using funding obtained under the RUS programs. As defined by the USDA, the RUS Rural Broadband Loan and Loan Guarantee Programs are designed to ensure that rural consumers enjoy the same quality and range of telecommunications services as are available in urban and suburban communities. DePON enables cable operators to deliver triple play services over fiber using their existing DOCSIS(TM) management system.
 
"Hitachi is demonstrating its commitment and leadership in providing broadband access solutions for a wide range of communication service providers with RUS acceptance of the Salira DePON product," said consultant and analyst Kermit Ross, principal of Millennium Marketing. "The Hitachi Salira DePON product family in particular enables cable TV operators to migrate these networks to all-fiber architectures, while continuing to use existing DOCSIS infrastructure, both at the headend and at the subscribers' premises."
 
"The Hitachi Salira DePON product family enables high bandwidth broadband delivery in rural areas. When used alone or with our RUS approved Node+Zero RFoG products, the Salira DePON platform enables cable operators to gain new revenue streams while preserving their existing CPE and DOCSIS management systems," said Mannix O'Connor, director, technical marketing, Hitachi Communication Technologies America, Inc. "The combination gives network operators flexibility to offer significantly more bandwidth while controlling costs."

Source: NBC