Copper Mountain Announces Cost-Effective DSL Concentrator for Small and Medium Multi-Tenant Units - Product Announcement

Cambridge Telcom Report, March 27, 2000

Copper Mountain Networks, Inc., (Nasdaq:CMTN) Monday announced a new Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) concentrator and companion customer premise equipment (CPE) designed specifically for small and medium-sized multi-tenant units (MTUs).

The OnPrem 2400 MTU Concentrator and CopperRocket OnPrem 230 CPE are the first products developed by Copper Mountain's new MTU Business Unit. The OnPrem 2400, which is available with eight, 16, and 24 ports, combines an integrated, high-performance solution with a compact, low-cost chassis and offers speeds up to 2.3 Mbps on a single pair of copper wires.

With the new OnPrem 2400, Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECs), Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Facility Service Providers can cost effectively provide high-speed broadband Internet access to smaller office buildings, hotels and MTU complexes.

Copper Mountain offers a complete line of DSL concentrators for the MTU marketplace, enabling service providers that manage portfolios of buildings of all sizes to offer high-speed access services to tenants. The CopperEdge 200, which scales to 192 ports, is optimized for high-density office buildings. The CopperEdge 150, available with 24 or 48 ports, is aimed at medium-sized buildings.

With the introduction of the OnPrem 2400, Copper Mountain now offers a concentrator optimized for small to medium-sized MTU buildings that complements the CopperEdge 150.

"We are ahead of schedule in delivering our new MTU product set to the market," said Wil Cochran, vice president and general manager of Copper Mountain's MTU Business Unit. "With our dedicated MTU Business Unit, we will be expanding Copper Mountain's MTU product line and capabilities even more quickly, to ensure that our customers have the best and most complete solutions to participate in all segments of the MTU marketplace."

"The MTU market is a major market segment for DSL," said Peter Meade, managing partner for TeleResearch Inc. "By creating a business unit focused entirely on this market, Copper Mountain is moving quickly to establish a dominant position in this space. By introducing a family of products optimized for the MTU market, the company is demonstrating to CLECs, ISPs, and MTU service providers that it is seriously committed to understanding and addressing their needs."

A Fully Integrated System The OnPrem 2400 is the first DSL concentrator for small MTUs to offer a fully integrated system, including routing, switching, bandwidth management and T1 CSU/DSU. The concentrator is less than three inches high and can be wall-mounted or rack-mounted in the basement of a building or in a wiring closet.

Competitive solutions require that service providers install multiple pieces of equipment -- a more expensive, less manageable and space-consuming alternative.

An integrated bandwidth manager enables service providers to optimize their capital investments by offering differentiated levels of service to tenants and monitoring and controlling bandwidth based on these service levels. With competing solutions, service providers have to install a more costly, standalone bandwidth manager, which increases the cost they must incur.

The OnPrem 2400 also integrates Network Address Translation (NAT), which saves MTU service providers time and money by allowing them to conserve IP addresses. Tenants benefit from NAT because their networks are hidden from the Internet at large and therefore are more secure.

Copper Mountain DSL concentrators are managed with the CopperView network management system, which provides an easy-to-use, graphical, point-and-click interface. The OnPrem 2400 also supports SNMP- or Web-based management for remote administration.

"With the OnPrem 2400, Copper Mountain rounds out its already industry-leading suite of DSL concentrators," said Brandon Knicely, chief technology officer of OnSite Access. "With its dedicated MTU business unit, Copper Mountain has the resources and focus to drive innovation in MTU solutions for office buildings of all sizes."

"Copper Mountain leads the market in delivering a full-range of intelligent products for the MTU market," said Chris Ward, vice president of Internet Services at Advanced TelCom Group.

"With the OnPrem 2400, Copper Mountain enables service providers to cost effectively deliver Internet access to small- and medium-sized MTUs, a largely under-served segment of the market. This is an attractive solution for service providers wanting to offer high-speed connectivity and specialized services to bandwidth-hungry smaller businesses."

Companion CPE The new CopperRocket 230 CPE, designed specifically for use with the OnPrem 2400, allows service providers to provision tenants with bandwidth ranging from 64 kbps to 2.3 Mbps over a single pair of wires. Like Copper Mountain's other CPE devices, the 230 CPE is simple to install and use. Service providers can provision new subscribers quickly and efficiently, and then manage the CPE remotely.

Pricing and Availability The OnPrem 2400 MTU concentrator starts at $8,795 (U.S. list) for the eight-port model. The CopperRocket OnPrem 230 CPE is $395 (U.S. list). The product is currently in customer trials and will be generally available in April.