Hitachi and ComSpanUSA to Present Fiber-to-the-Premises Case Study at Digital City Expo 2006; Presentation based on the Bandon, Oregon, Gigabit Passive Optical Network

Business Wire, April 18, 2006

ATLANTA -- Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc., and ComSpanUSA today announced that the two companies will jointly present a case study entitled "Using GPON For Next Generation Fiber Deployments - Case Studies and Best Practices for Communities." The presentation, based on a groundbreaking GPON implementation in Bandon, Oregon, will be presented at the Digital City Expo Conference, to be held in Reston, Virginia, on April 25-26, 2006 (See www.digitalcityexpo.com). Scott Wilkinson, Ph.D., assistant vice president at Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc., and John Stadter, CEO of ComSpanUSA, will discuss details of the first deployment in North America of a 2.4Gbit/s GPON solution that provides triple play services to a mix of residential and business subscribers.

At this conference, Dr. Wilkinson of Hitachi will present an overview of GPON technology, followed by a real world example of GPON network design and deployment by Mr. Stadter of ComSpanUSA.

Using the Bandon, Oregon, project as an example, Mr. Stadter will outline ComSpanUSA's unique business plan for deploying GPON networks, in which the service provider and partner companies manage the construction and operation of a high speed network serving residents of the municipality and surrounding area. Multiple project areas will be discussed, including funding, marketing, infrastructure construction, and support.

"We participated in the Digital City Expo Conference last year, and found that it was well-attended and offered a wide range of useful guidance for municipalities and service providers considering a fiber to the premises network," said Hitachi's Wilkinson. Added Mr. Stadter of ComSpanUSA, "Since this is the first network in the United States to use full-rate GPON technology, and because of our unique business model, we think that our experience could be of value to others."

About Hitachi's AMN1220 Product Family

The AMN1220 FTTP platform is a family of high-performance GPON products that provide ultra high bandwidth communication services to residential, business and institutional subscribers using a single optical fiber direct to the subscriber's premises. Compliant with ITU-T G.984 standards, the AMN1220 provides data rates of 2.488Gbit/s downstream and 1.244Gbit/s upstream. Standards compliance provides assurance that service providers will have maximum flexibility in implementing FTTP solutions as applications and services are added in the future. Legacy TDM services such as T1 are seamlessly handled in their native formats using GPON Encapsulation Mode (GEM) framing.

The AMN1220 consists of a centrally located Optical Line Terminal

(OLT) connected via single-mode fiber optic cable to Optical Network Terminals (ONT) at the subscribers' premises. The OLT is equipped with a hybrid Layer 2/3 TDM switch fabric for flexible traffic management and consolidation. ONTs include the GST, a single family / small business unit, and the GMT, a configurable multi-dwelling/multi-business ONT. All ONTs can provide a Gigabit Ethernet line rate interface to the subscriber, enabling a wide range of business applications today and providing future proofing for both residential and business networks.

About Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc.

Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc., a subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd., develops, manufactures and markets telecommunications equipment for the North American market. The company offers ITU-compliant 'triple play' systems for Fiber-to-the-Premises applications, and ultra high-speed optical networking equipment such as DWDM and SONET systems. For more information on Hitachi Telecom (USA), Inc., visit http://www.hitachitelecom.com.

Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics and semiconductors, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout North America. For more information on Hitachi America, visit http://www.hitachi.us.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 347,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2004 (ended March 31, 2005) consolidated sales totaled 9,027.0 billion yen ($84.4 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit http://www.hitachi.com.

About ComSpanUSA

ComSpanUSA is a facilities-based CLEC headquartered in Roseburg, Oregon, whose mission is to bring state-of-the-art communications services to rural communities. Beginning in 2002 with an initial copper-based deployment, powered by a Nortel DMS 500 and a local fiber ring, the company quickly established itself as a force in its market area. ComSpanUSA provides a complete range of telephony and ISP-related services. Seeing the opportunity to develop FTTP projects ComSpanUSA continues its leadership role by providing triple play services to rural markets. For more information please visit the company's website at www.comspanusa.net.