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Press Release

Occam Networks Receives INTERNET TELEPHONY Magazine's “Product of the Year” Award for 2005

BLC 6312 OLT Blade Honored for Outstanding Innovation

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – March 14, 2006– Occam Networks® Inc. (OTCBB: OCNW), a supplier of innovative Ethernet- and IP-based loop carrier equipment to telecommunications companies worldwide, announced today that Technology Marketing Corporation's  (TMC®) INTERNET TELEPHONY® magazine (www.itmag.com) has named Occam Networks BLC 6312 Optical Line Termination (OLT) blade as a recipient of a 2005 Product of the Year Award.

An industry first, the Occam BLC 6312 OLT blade provides the company's BLC 6000 Broadband Loop Carrier System with the ability to deliver up to one gigabit per second of bandwidth to the subscriber premise.  Serving as many as 20 optical subscriber lines, the BLC 6312 OLT builds highly cost-effective Active Ethernet FTTP networks for delivering bandwidth intensive services such as multiple voice over IP (VoIP) lines, video on demand (VOD), IPTV and high definition TV (HDTV), as well as high speed data and standard definition IPTV.   It integrates into existing BLC 6000 chassis and networks seamlessly without any changes to the access ring or to central office (CO) equipment, enabling telcos to upgrade to FTTP on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis. 

An Active Ethernet FTTP network provides a cost-effective alternative to a passive optical network (PON) and offers telcos a variety of advantages, including:  

  1. Much higher per-subscriber bandwidth (as much as over 100 times)
  2. Symmetrical downstream and upstream subscriber bandwidth
  3. The ability to quickly and efficiently identify network problems and outages from the central office with a low-cost, handheld tester. 
  4. More efficient use of expensive optical ports that allows telcos to install lasers when subscribers order a higher bandwidth service and to add capacity only when the number of subscribers increases. 
  1. The ability to assign bandwidth according to established service level agreements (SLAs) without the load balance issues with PON splitters.
  2. More flexibility with the optical plant, with support for a single or dual fiber plant and a wide variety of laser power budgets.

 

“Nearly every study of future bandwidth requirements and optical network trends point to more than 100 Mbps delivered to each subscriber over an active fiber network,”” said Russ Sharer, vice president of sales and marketing for Occam.  “Occam believes customers should deploy a fiber network that meets their long term requirements, and have designed the 6312 to offer this cost-effective solution today.  Receiving this award is a strong indicator that industry experts like INTERNET TELEPHONY agree.” 

“Each year INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine bestows its Product of the Year awards on companies that have demonstrated excellence in technological advancement and application refinements.  Occam Networks has demonstrated to the editors of INTERNET TELEPHONY that its products or services are committed to quality and innovation while addressing the real needs in the marketplace,” said Rich Tehrani, Group Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of INTERNET TELEPHONY.

The Product of the Year Award winners for 2005 are highlighted in the February 2006 issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine.

About Occam Networks Inc.
Occam Networks Inc. develops and markets innovative Broadband Loop Carrier networking equipment that enable telephone companies to deliver voice, data and video services. Based on Ethernet and Internet Protocol (IP) technologies, Occam's equipment allows telecommunications service providers to profitably deliver traditional phone services, as well as advanced voice-over-IP, residential and business broadband, and digital television services through a single, all-packet access network. Occam is headquartered in Santa Barbara, Calif. Additional information can be found at www.occamnetworks.com.

About TMC
Celebrating more than 30 years as a leading publisher, Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) publishes Customer Inter@ction Solutions® and INTERNET TELEPHONY® magazines, Web portal TMCnet.com, and the online publications SIP™, Speech-World™, VoIP Developer™, WiFI Telephony™, WiMAX™, Alternative Power™ and BiometriTech™. TMC is also the first publisher to test new products in its own on-site laboratories, TMC Labs. TMC produces INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO, VoIP Developer Conference™ and Global Call Center Outsourcing Summit™. TMC offers live and online certification programs through TMC University.  TMCnet.com publishes more than 14 online newsletters. Visit www.tmcnet.com for details.


Portions of this press release may contain forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future performance of Occam Networks. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from any future performance suggested in such statements. Rapidly changing technologies and market conditions may require changes to Occam's products. Occam does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Please also refer to the company's most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q, annual report on Form 10-K and other filings with the SEC. These filings contain and identify other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.