Atrica Inc., a provider of Optical Ethernet equipment for the metro networking market, announced that France Telecom has agreed to test Atrica's Optical Ethernet solution. Two tests began in January of this year at France Telecom's R&D facilities in Issy-Les-Moulineaux and Lannion, France, and in an R&D facility in Redwood City, Calif.
France Telecom is evaluating Atrica's Optical Ethernet products as a means to consider high-speed services that would be attractive to business customers who have not previously had access to high-speed networking.
Atrica also announced that it has begun trials of its Optical Ethernet System with the major service provider in Israel, Bezeq. Per the terms of the Beta agreement, Bezeq will conduct both laboratory and field trials with Atrica's Optical Ethernet equipment.
The trials will include transmission of Bezeq's TDM-based traffic over an Optical Ethernet network, using Atrica's equipment. The trials will determine Optical Ethernet's suitability as the foundation for an integrated voice, data and video service.
Atrica's Optical Ethernet solution combines standard Ethernet, optical switching, and carrier-class management and traffic engineering capabilities for the metro network. Atrica's vision is that Optical Ethernet technology will allow carriers to offer high-speed services -- from 1 Mbps to 10 Gbps -- at lower costs than current lower-capacity services.
"The population density and short distances between countries make Europe a promising market for metropolitan area networks," commented Stephane Teral, European optical analyst director, Ryan Hankin Kent (RHK).
About Bezeq
Established in 1984, Bezeq is Israel's principal telecommunications provider, offering local, long distance and international telephone services, cellular communications, data communications, satellite services, leased lines and corporate networks.
About Atrica:
Atrica is a privately held company based in Santa Clara, Calif., with R&D facilities in Israel and business development and sales offices in Paris. The company received initial seed funding from 3Com Corporation, a first round of financing led by prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firms Accel Partners and Benchmark Capital, and a second round led by four global service providers. For more information, visit www.atrica.com.