Amedia Networks has thrown its hat in the fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) ring with a QoS-laden platform based on Ethernet Switched Optical Network (ESON) technology.

Capable of delivering up to 100 Mbps of symmetrical bandwidth per subscriber, the company’s QoStream platform is comprised of four components: a premises gateway, aggregation switch, a core switch with Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) support, and a provisioning system based on Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).

Amedia is entering the FTTP arena via a $250,000 licensing deal with Lucent Bell Labs, the technology’s originator.

“We will market and further develop Lucent’s FTTP solution,” said Amedia CEO Frank Galuppo. Lucent’s FTTP technology was deployed in Sacramento, Calif. by bankrupt overbuilder Winfirst, whose assets were purchased in mid-2002 by Surewest Communications.

Amedia currently has eight employees, but is paying 20 people at Lucent to get the FTTP products commercially ready for market.

Amedia initially will target independent telcos rather than some of the larger RBOCs, some of which are already looking to ATM-based PON networks to support early FTTP deployments. Amedia will also pursue business with cable operators that are considering using FTTP to deliver services to commercial customers, Galuppo said.

The company has a trial set for this August with an undisclosed network operator, he added.