Hitachi Cable, Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ''Hitachi Cable'') has announced the establishment of its ''Tsukuba Network Technology Center,'' a new development center for its information network solution division.


Hitachi Cable has been manufacturing and marketing LAN equipment and network-integration business tools for nearly 20 years. The business has grown significantly since the company entered the telecommunications market with the 2000 launch of the GMX Series (Gigabit Ethernet Multiplexing Long-distance Transmitters) (*1). Last year, the company began marketing the Apresia 6000/8000 Series (*2), a family of large switching hubs for wide-area Ethernet networks. The company has developed a variety of security systems for the private and public sectors, with the Apresia 2000/3000 Series as the central product, in addition to the WirelessIP5000, a wireless IP phone compatible with the SIP (*3) servers of various providers. In these and other ways, Hitachi Cable has remained ahead of the competition in offering the products and solutions that the market demands, in the process developing a solid reputation among its customers.


Design, development, testing, and verification of these devices and the associated software are conducted chiefly at Takasago Works (Hitachi City, Ibaraki Pref.). The Tokyo Network Technology Center (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) develops software for some of the products targeted for use in the private and public sectors. However, to develop its next-generation Apresia Series and similar products, which are soon expected to form the main pillar of the network solution business, the company must increase the size of its development staff while at the same time continuing to improve the services it offers.

To this end Hitachi Cable has established the ''Tsukuba Network Technology Center'' in the Tsukuba & Tsuchiura district, easily accessible for customers in Tokyo and thus attractive to a number of capable candidate IT experts. The center chiefly conducts design, development, testing, and verification of network equipment and software for telecommunications carriers.

Hitachi Cable is determined to offer better services to its customers by reinforcing its development of network equipment and by expanding its sales channels in cooperation with its various sales partners. The company also aims to expand its information network solution business with efforts to deliver faster, cheaper, and more reliable network services.

<Outline of Tsukuba Network Technology Center>

Address	3550 Kidamari, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Pref. (located on the premises of Tsuchiura Works)
Number of employees	Approx. 80 (as of March 1, 2005)
Date of opening	1-Mar-05
Line of business	Design, development, testing, and verification of network equipment and software for telecommunications carriers

*1 Ethernet is a registered trademark of Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
*2 Apresia is a registered trademark of Hitachi Cable, Ltd. in Japan.
*3 SIP stands for Session Initiation Protocol