Adopting a new name with a new product launch, broadband-gear maker Narad Networks will now be known as PhyFlex Networks.
CEO Michael Collette said the name change is to emphasize the company’s “phy flexibility”-- that is, the capability to support multiple physical transport layers, including third-party cable modems in the future.
“For a lot of people in the cable industry, Narad referred to a very specific solution: fiber-to-the-node,” Collette said. “Now, as part of this change, we’re going to be more phy-agnostic.”
The company’s previous name derived from Narada, a divine Hindu sage.
Collette said the company this week will begin shipping the FTTxSwitch, an outdoor “hardened” device that provides Ethernet-over-coax, fiber and copper last-mile transport technologies. The switch was certified by the Metro Ethernet Forum as a carrier-class product, he added.
The FTTxSwitch is in various stages of deployment with eight operators: five in North America, including Cablevision Systems; Korea’s World Multi-Net; and two systems managed by Mexico’s InterCable.
Down the road, PhyFlex is looking to support third-party cable-modem suppliers. Initially, it will focus on Multimedia over Coax Alliance and HomePNA-over-coax technologies for extending the fiber network to small network groups, such as in multidwelling-unit buildings.
Collette said PhyFlex might also consider developing support for standard Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification equipment, but since PhyFlex remains focused on business services, DOCSIS wasn’t a priority right now.
