IRVINE, California, April 3, 2007 - Aktino's Ethernet over Copper equipment performed to meet and exceed Fiber Service Level Agreements (SLA) in a cell site backhaul test that was conducted over several months under the challenges of harsh weather conditions, the company announced today.

For the test, the Aktino FiberSLA™ system was installed at three cell sites, ranging from 8,000 to 14,000 feet from the central office (CO). The links were monitored for an extended period and showed that Aktino's AK3000 and AK4000 equipment, thanks to its core MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) on DMT technology, not only exceeds the capabilities of legacy copper-based technologies like HDSL2/4, it performs on par with fiber to provide FiberSLA capability. It also showed that Aktino's AK3000 and AK4000 products provided up to four times the bandwidth that HDSL2 or HDSL4 provided on the same links.

Aktino, the industry leader in delivery of business-class broadband over existing copper wiring infrastructure, revealed the results of the test, conducted by a U.S. wireline carrier in a lightning prone region and stated that even when lightning strikes occurred within a few hundred feet, the Aktino FiberSLA solution performed flawlessly. Additionally, on one connection, the Aktino equipment delivered 3.2 Mbps of symmetric bandwidth per pair, more than four times the 0.75 Mbps that HDSL4 provided. On another connection, Aktino provided 4.8 Mbps of symmetrical bandwidth per pair, more than triple that of the 1.5 Mbps for HDSL2. Aktino also revealed that its solution was tested for TDM DS1s, ATM, and native Ethernet delivery of bandwidth that was line powered over the same copper pairs that carried the bandwidth.

A report from the carrier conducting the test declared that the MIMO on DMT™ technology is suitable for transporting all cell site access circuit types - DS1, DS3, and Ethernet - and concluded that the technology is financially viable with potential capex savings. The carrier also called Ethernet over Copper with MIMO on DMT the ultimate solution for bandwidth growth.

In evaluating the technology's performance during storms, the carrier reported that the Aktino equipment addressed a key weakness of legacy T1 technology by demonstrating a significant decrease in unavailable seconds (UAS). In fact, the carrier found that the Aktino FiberSLA™ equipment actually eliminated them, thanks to the Aktino equipment's retrain functionality, which seamlessly and dynamically redistributes bandwidth among different pairs.

Lightning is the top cause of unavailable seconds, and in one two-hour period during a summer 2006 storm, the carrier reported 539 lightning strikes, 36 of which happened at the same second, with an average distance of 0.05 miles from the cell tower. Zero UAS were reported on the Aktino equipment, although existing circuits in the same binder reported large amounts of UAS that caused the entire base station to re-boot and resulted in service interruptions.

This finding is extremely significant because it's not uncommon for cell sites that utilize T1s for backhaul to experience UAS levels above 2 seconds, which result in dropped calls and jeopardize the provider's ability to meet SLAs. Because the Aktino FiberSLA equipment makes it possible to eliminate this problem without having to trench fiber (the typical default solution to excessive UAS), service providers now have a proven, cost-effective building block to use as a key part of their fiber migration strategies.

"This real-world carrier test demonstrated the fiber-like reliability that MIMO on DMT makes possible," said Michael Tsatsanis, Chief Scientist for Aktino. "Not only did we provide greater bandwidth at a longer reach, but the reliability levels of the Aktino FiberSLA solution exceeded today's typical fiber SLA."

Aktino was the first company to deliver products for the business Ethernet market based on DMT (discrete multi-tone) technology and the first to enhance performance through MIMO. This enables Aktino's products to minimize crosstalk among copper pairs, delivering longer reach, greater bandwidth, and a much larger service footprint, throughout the entire Carrier Serving Area.

Aktino's product family consists of the AK3000 for long-reach DS3 (45 Mbps) services (the only viable DS3 over copper solution on the market), the AK4000 for delivering 10 to 50 Mbps business-class Ethernet services, and the AK5000, a scalable, shelf-based platform for larger installations.

About Aktino
Aktino designs and delivers innovative carrier-class long reach broadband over copper solutions that enable service providers to offer a broad footprint of revenue-generating business-class broadband services over existing copper loops. Aktino is a pioneer in the use of industry standard DMT (Discrete Multi-Tone) with MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) in the wireline domain. Aktino's products, including its MEF 9- and MEF 14-certified AK4000 family, and DS3 (ATM/TDM)-based AK3000 family enable service providers to deliver more services to a larger footprint than any other copper-based broadband solution. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Irvine, California, Aktino is shipping products to service providers throughout the world. For more information, please visit www.aktino.com.