Ottawa, Canada – December 13, 2010 Enablence Technologies Inc. (“Enablence” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: ENA), a leading supplier of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) equipment for triple-play residential and business services and optical components and subsystems for access, metro and long-haul markets, is entering into a joint venture with China’s SUNSEA Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (“SUNSEA”), a move that will strategically position Enablence’s Optical Components and Subsystems Division to capitalize on the vast opportunity presented by the Chinese market for broadband telecommunications equipment.
The joint venture, to be called Sunsea-Enablence Optoelectronics, will be established in Foshan, China, with operations expected to commence July 2011 subject to regulatory approvals in China. Its initial focus will be on producing components based on Enablence’s proprietary Planar Lightwave Circuit (PLC) platform in high volumes. Its product lines will further expand into PLC based modules and transceivers.
SUNSEA is a leading developer and manufacturer of physical telecommunications network equipment in the Chinese market. It has also built a significant supply chain that includes global equipment vendors active in a variety of established and emerging markets.
Sunsea-Enablence Optoelectronics will be created with an initial capital investment of $18 million, of which Enablence will contribute $3.5 million in cash and $1 million in equipment, as well as its market-leading expertise in developing and manufacturing optical components based on its PLC technology. Enablence will hold a 49-percent ownership stake in the joint venture (all figures in U.S. dollars).
In the first year of operation (expected to be July 2011 through to June 2012) Enablence and SUNSEA expect the joint venture to generate revenues of approximately $8 million to $10 million. This is expected to rise to approximately $15 million to $20 million in the second year of operation. The partners expect the venture to be profitable and accretive to earnings within the first year.
“The Chinese market is still in the initial stages of a growth curve for broadband access equipment that is staggering,” said Wensheng Wang, Chairman & CEO of SUNSEA . “And yet, until now, China’s domestic telecommunications companies have had to rely on foreign suppliers for advanced next-generation PLC-based components. We welcome the opportunity to work with Enablence and integrate its innovative optical solutions into our product lines.” 
According to the FTTH Council Asia Pacific’s Market Vision report released in November 2010, China is poised to catch up with Korea and Japan as a primary growth engine for the region’s adoption of FTTx networks for home and business.
“While Enablence already has valued partnerships with leading technology vendors in China, this is our first joint venture in one of Asia-Pacific’s fastest growing telecommunications market,” said Tim Thorsteinson, CEO of Enablence. “SUNSEA has an established supply chain, not just in China, but with other global vendors targeting other markets, into which they can introduce our PLC-based components. We look forward to a long and profitable relationship.”

FAQs
Q: Why is Enablence entering the Chinese market?
A: Due to China’s one billion+ population, even an incremental increase in broadband penetration can translate into tens of millions of new subscribers. According the FTTH Council Asia Pacific’s Market Vision report released in November 2010, China’s top telecommunication service providers are charting an aggressive growth strategy for next-generation broadband access over all-optical networks. China Telecom, for example, has set aside $880 million to invest in a 100 Mbps metro optical network in Shanghai, with a goal to sign up three million subscribers by the end of 2011. It also plans to boost the percentage of subscribers on its networks with transfer speeds of 8 Mbps to 100 percent from the current 68 percent by the end of 2012.
Q: Why did Enablence partner with SUNSEA?
A: SUNSEA is a very competitive manufacturer in the Chinese market that specializes in R&D, manufacturing and marketing of communication network physical connection equipment. It has a large established client base with high-volume supply needs that requires Enablence technology to be integrated into its product lines. To tackle the Chinese market Enablence needs an effective local partner that is fully committed to the business. Enablence has already established such partnerships for its Systems Division. By forging similar partnerships for its components business, Enablence will be well positioned to supply the huge Chinese market, as well as global customers serving other markets who need high-volume, low-cost manufacturing of key optical components.
Q: What other market opportunities does this joint venture create for Enablence?
A: While the initial focus of Sunsea-Enablence Optoelectronics will be on manufacturing FTTH components for China’s domestic telecommunications market, the intent is to expand into other components based on Enablence’s proprietary PLC technology and product designs. SUNSEA also supplies a number of leading equipment vendors active in various markets, a supply chain into which Enablence’s products will be introduced.
Q: What is PLC?
A: Enablence’s comprehensive portfolio of optical components and subsystems helps system developers around the world provision bandwidth-heavy services such as data, video, and storage, while at the same time, slashing operator costs with easy maintenance, energy-efficiency, and space-saving features.
The Enablence advantage lies in its proprietary Planar Lightwave Circuitry (PLC), which integrates multiple components into a single optical chip to reduce footprint and costs. The PLC technology platform from Enablence allows for extremely high levels of optoelectronic integration, often incorporating dozens of optical and electronic functions in a single compact module.  Enablence has 11 PLC optical component and subsystems product lines with hundreds of product models.