Ignis awarded largest order ever in Korea

Fi-ra secured another fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) component contract in Korea with a value in excess of USD 4 million.

Oslo January 2nd 2007. Ignis ASA’s subsidiary, Fi-ra Photonics Co. Ltd, has secured another fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) component contract in Korea with a value in excess of USD 4 million. The components will be delivered during the first half year of 2007. Fi-ra Photonics Co. Ltd. is a 50.1 percent owned subsidiary of Ignis ASA.

“We are experiencing an impressive scale and speed of growth in Korea - one of the fastest growing FTTH markets in the world”,- says Ignis CEO Thomas Ramm, “We feel very comfortable with the strong position we have gained in Korea - and going forward we are confident we will further accelerate the growth and expansion of our business”, says Thomas Ramm

In 2006 Korea Telecom continued the roll out of their new and rapidly expanding passive optical network (PON). Fi-ra Photonics was the major provider of splitters for this deployment. In 2007 Korea Telecom claim they will go nationwide with their FTTH expansion and consequently roll out of between 800.000 and 1 million PON lines across the country.

Following this contract, Fi-ra has been chosen as the preferred supplier of splitters for this expansion by Dasan Network, one of the three qualified system suppliers to Korea Telecom. Dasan Network is owned 51 percent by Siemens.

This contract from Dasan Networks corresponds to 400.000 + lines to be implemented during the first 6 months of 2007. The majority of this roll out will be on the current GE-PON standard and the remainder on the even higher bandwidth standard, WDM-PON. Ignis is one of very few component suppliers with products for all the PON standards.

“The FTTH market continues to escalate and beat growth estimates - and as we are watching the aggressive growth of FTTH lines in Korea - we expect to see other FTTH markets in both Asian and North America following the same route and speed. Being a well positioned supplier of optical components for all PON standard in all major markets should bring us increasing revenues in 2007 and on”, says CEO Thomas Ramm.

The contract with Dasan Networks is the largest contract Ignis has been awarded over the past few months through its subsidiary; Fi-ra Photonics Co. Ltd. Ignis expects the positive market development to continue through 2007.

About Ignis Photonyx:
Ignis Photonyx’ is a leading supplier of fiber optical components to telecom networks. We have already a proven record in the fastest growing FTTH (Fiber-To-The-Home) markets in the world - with significant partnerships with global FTTH system suppliers like Samsung, LG-Nortel and Dasan Networks. Ignis Photonyx has operations in Norway, Denmark, Canada and South-Korea, Ignis Photonyx is a wholly owned subsidiary of publicly traded Ignis ASA, which also comprises Ignis Smartnet, Ignis Display and Fi-ra Photonyx (50.1% owned).

About Fi-ra Photonics Co. Ltd:
Fi-ra Photonics Co., Ltd. was founded in 1999 and has grown to become a leading manufacturer of planar light wave circuits (PLC) components for telecommunications market. Standard products include splitters, optical waveguide amplifiers, fiber arrays and couplers. Fi-ra Photonics Co., Ltd. also designs and manufactures advanced types, e.g., Athermal Types, VOA (Variable Optical Attenuator), T/O Switch, OADM (Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer) for DWDM and optical networking systems.

Contact Information

Thomas Ramm

CEO

Ignis ASA

Contact via E-mail