5 August 2003 San Diego, CA Lightwave - Sorrento Networks, a supplier of optical networking equipment for carriers and enterprises worldwide, today announced the first of a set of products targeted at the cable multi-system operator (MSO) community. Designed for video-on-demand (VOD) transport, the latest product introduction is a 10-port Gigabit Ethernet multiplexer for Sorrento's flagship GigaMux metro/regional DWDM system.
The new 10-port module provides 25% greater port density than competing 8-port products and positions the company to capitalize on the spreading popularity of new cable services nationwide. Later products will include a multitude of interface options, integrated switching, and drop-and-continue capabilities for digital video broadcast applications.
"The cable MSO market, which is fundamental to Sorrento's revenue and growth strategy, is starting to spend heavily in rolling out VOD services," stated Phil Arneson, Sorrento Networks' chairman and chief executive officer. "Sorrento is aggressively building on its lead in this segment through the development of a complete family of optical transport products."
Sorrento's GigaMux systems are already in service in 19 major MSO markets in the United States, representing 147 locations, and are used by two of the top four cable operators in the country.
The multiplexer module combines 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports into an aggregate 10-Gbit/sec wavelength for transport of digital video and other Gigabit Ethernet services. It takes only two slots in Sorrento's compact 17-slot GigaMux platform, which is used to support metro/regional applications such as storage area networking (SAN), wavelength services, and SONET/SDH transport. General availability of the 10-port Gigabit Ethernet multiplexer is planned for October 2003.
"Sorrento's Gigabit Ethernet port density advantage is significant because it translates into substantial cost savings for MSOs," commented Demetri Elias, vice president of marketing for Sorrento Networks. "With the 10-port mux, cable service providers will need to use fewer wavelengths to transport a given amount of VOD traffic. Fewer wavelengths mean less equipment, less rack space, less power, and fewer potential points of failure - key benefits resulting in operational savings as well as reduced capital expense."
Sorrento's customers now have three options for Gigabit Ethernet transport with GigaMux - supporting one, two, or 10 full-rate Gigabit Ethernet streams per wavelength. This flexibility results in cost savings in situations where it would be wasteful to deploy an 8- or 10-port multiplexer to carry only one or two extra Gigabit Ethernet streams. Sorrento also supports fractional rate Gigabit Ethernet for situations when it is desirable to combine multiple smaller signals into a full-rate stream.
Second quarter revenue expectations
Sorrento expects to report revenues of approximately $4.3 million for the second quarter ended July 31, 2003, down approximately $800,000 from the second quarter of the prior year.
"After two consecutive quarters in which Sorrento's revenue exceeded the prior year's results for the same period, this quarter's revenue was adversely affected by delays in customer deployments and to a lesser degree by customers waiting to evaluate the new LuxN product line," said Joe Armstrong, Sorrento's chief financial officer. "Our outlook remains positive however and is expected to be driven primarily by demand for VOD transport and by demand for LuxN's optical access products."
Sorrento will announce at a later time the date of the conference call to discuss full financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2004.