Zhone supplies FTTP gear for South African smart city

FTTx equipment vendor Zhone Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZHNE) says it has supplied its MXK 819 platform to support both GPON and Active Ethernet deployments in a smart city application in Cape Town, South Africa. Century City Connect is using the platform, as well as customer premises equipment from Zhone, to create and operate an open access network in the city.

Century City Connect’s fiber to the premises (FTTP) network runs in the Century City precinct, a mixed-use development in Cape Town that combines office, retail, residential, and leisure components. The service provider will offer access to its fiber-optic network to Internet service providers (ISPs) interested in supplying high-speed broadband services to the precinct. Century City Connect was created to enable efficient infrastructure provision in the relatively new precinct, minimizing disruption to precinct businesses and residents, Zhone says.

"The new fiber network, made possible through Zhone's solutions, will encourage businesses in Cape Town to relocate and residents to buy property in Century City since they will have access to the best broadband services in the area," predicted Greg Deans, director at Century City Connect. "The network differentiates Century City from other developments within Cape Town by providing the advanced high-quality services necessary to attract and retain customers."

Century City Connect can support transmission rates of up to 10 Gbps on the network using the MXK 819, as well as Zhone's zNID 2301, 2402, 2424a, eight-port GPON cards and 10G Active Ethernet cards.

"Utilizing Zhone's GPON for residential and businesses, and Active Ethernet for large corporations, Century City Connect is now able to offer a tiered service to ISPs, ensuring the network can meet the unique needs of each customer," said Brian Caskey, chief marketing officer at Zhone Technologies. "Zhone's platform delivers the flexibility required to meet the needs of residents and businesses alike."

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