New Networks to Help Deliver True High-Speed Internet, Voice and HDTV Services
CORNING, N.Y., May 12 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Portugal Telecom (NYSE: PT) and Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) announced today an agreement to work together to develop, test, and implement innovative and advanced Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) technology solutions for Next-Generation Access (NGA) fiber optic networks in Portugal.
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Portugal Telecom has recently signed an agreement with the Portuguese government and other telecommunications providers to develop a fiber optic network in the country. The goal is to enable access to next-generation services such as true high-speed Internet, voice, and HDTV based on a new network for up to 1.5 million Portuguese.
"Our main goal is to offer high-quality and cost-competitive services based on innovative and reliable fiber-based solutions," said Zeinal Bava, Portugal Telecom's chief executive officer. "To give our customers, both residential and corporate, the best services in the marketplace, we are establishing a number of leading-edge partnerships. Corning Incorporated is the world-leading supplier of fiber-based solutions, with a strong commitment to R&D, and thus we believe will add significant value for this great undertaking we are preparing to enter."
"Portugal Telecom's fiber-to-the-home investment demonstrates their technical leadership and their commitment to providing leading-edge technology solutions to customers," saidWendell P. Weeks, chairman and chief executive officer of Corning Incorporated. "We are extremely pleased and excited to be working closely with Portugal Telecom in building a next-generation fiber-optic-based solution. This optical fiber technology will allow Internet users high-speed broadband access that will provide the true high definition and 3D interactive television experiences which will be demanded in the future."
Corning will utilize its new ClearCurve(R) product suite optimized for the European market in the Portugal Telecom solution. The new product suite is enabled by ClearCurve fiber which is hundreds of times more bendable than standard single-mode fiber. Featuring Corning's breakthrough nanoStructures(TM) technology, ClearCurve optical fiber can be bent around very tight corners with virtually no signal loss while maintaining backward compatibility with the installed base of optical fiber. This fiber enables the construction of rugged drop cables for multi-dwelling units which can be pulled through wall studs, stapled to wood and otherwise handled like copper communications cables. It also enables hardware and equipment for fiber optic networks that is smaller and more aesthetically pleasing.
About Corning Incorporated
Corning Incorporated (http://www.corning.com ) is the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics. Drawing on more than 150 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge, Corning creates and makes keystone components that enable high-technology systems for consumer electronics, mobile emissions control, telecommunications and life sciences. Our products include glass substrates for LCD televisions, computer monitors and laptops; ceramic substrates and filters for mobile emission control systems; optical fiber, cable, hardware & equipment for telecommunications networks; optical biosensors for drug discovery; and other advanced optics and specialty glass solutions for a number of industries including semiconductor, aerospace, defense, astronomy and metrology.
About Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom ("PT") is a leading telecommunications provider with more than 70 million customers in 14 countries, namely in Brazil and Africa. In Portugal, where it retains a clear leading position, the company provides a full range of fixed and mobile telecommunication services, including voice, broadband and television and covers all segments of the market: consumer, residential, SMEs, corporate and wholesale. Its international investments, which are focused on the mobile segment, account for 85 percent of its customer base and 50 percent of its revenues. It is seen as the Portuguese company which has the biggest national and international projection and has a diversified business portfolio where quality and innovation are decisive aspects, along side the most advanced international companies in this sector.
Portugal Telecom is listed on the Euronext and New York Stock Exchange. Information may be accessed on Reuters under the symbols PTC.LS and PT and on Bloomberg under the symbol PTC PL.
