Industry Association Aims to Accelerate Development of the Passive Optical LAN Industry

NEW YORK, Aug. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Corning, IBM, SAIC, TE Connectivity, Tellabs, Zhone and 3M have formed the Association for Passive Optical LAN (APOLAN). The association's mission is advocating for the education and global adoption of passive optical networks in the local area network (LAN) industry.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130806/CG59123LOGO)

Passive Optical LAN represents a revolutionary change for the IT industry. As the next generation for LAN infrastructure, it provides the simplicity, scale and bandwidth to address current and future demand, while minimizing costly and disruptive cabling and equipment upgrades. In addition, Passive Optical LAN can deliver substantial savings in capital and operational costs over traditional workgroup switch-based LAN architectures. Significant savings can be realized in almost every aspect of an implementation, including equipment costs, power, cooling, installation and floor space. Passive Optical LAN serves as the optimized means to deliver voice, video, data, wireless access, security and high-performance building automation for the federal government and commercial enterprise. Passive Optical LAN saves money, energy and space.

APOLAN comprises members involved in providing infrastructure, electronics, integration, distribution, and consulting services, as well as other organizations supporting the growth of the Passive Optical LAN industry.

"With data and video consumption forecast to grow between 7-10X in the next few years, the demand for highly cost-effective and high-quality voice, video, and data continues to grow in the enterprise LAN market space, making Passive Optical LAN an appealing solution to address current and future bandwidth demands," said Nav Chander, research manager, Enterprise Telecom at IDC. "The APOLAN will provide valuable education and guidance to those considering this type of networking solution, and I expect they will serve as strong advocates for its global adoption."  

"Participation in the APOLAN is open to all organizations interested in leveraging Passive Optical Networking to revolutionize the way local area networks are designed, deployed, and managed," said Dave Cunningham, president and chairman of the APOLAN. "The deployments of Passive Optical LAN to date have demonstrated significant cost and performance advantages compared to traditional Ethernet designs, and the optical foundation "future-proofs" the network for any new bandwidth demand – a clear advantage over existing copper solutions."

APOLAN held its founding meeting in March to draft its bylaws and elect its leadership. 

Executives
President:  Dave E. Cunningham, Corning
Vice President:  John W. Short, IBM
Secretary:  Joseph D. Marmion, Tellabs
Treasurer:  John Winship, SAIC

Board of Directors
Board Chairman:  Dave E. Cunningham, Corning
Board Chair-Elect:  S. Blaine Overstreet, SAIC
Director:  Jeffery H. Jones, IBM
Director:  Ryland J. Marek, 3M
Director:  Thomas C. Ruvarac, Tellabs
Director:  Brian O'Connell, TE Connectivity
Director: Brian Caskey, Zhone

For more information, or to apply for membership, please visit our website:  http://www.apolanglobal.org

About The Association for Passive Optical LAN (APOLAN)
The Association for Passive Optical LAN is a non-profit organization that is driving adoption, and educating the market on the technical and economic advantages of Passive Optical LAN technology. Through its ecosystems of manufacturers, distributors, integrators, and consulting companies actively involved in the marketplace, APOLAN helps design engineers, architects, building owners, CIOs and IT departments succeed with Passive Optical LAN. For more information visit http://www.apolanglobal.org/

SOURCE Association for Passive Optical LAN (APOLAN)