Press Release

    BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2004--

     Broadcast Network Gateway Reduces the Cost of Introducing and
      Operating a Secure Multichannel Digital Television Service

Harmonic Inc. (Nasdaq:HLIT) today announced an extension of its industry leading Broadcast Network Gateway (BNG) family of compact, multifunction edge devices to support SDH (DS-3) networks. The new BNG solution allows cable operators to more fully utilize their existing network investments thereby reducing the cost of introducing, managing and extending a secure multichannel digital television service.

The new Broadcast Network Gateway systems, which leverage Harmonic's pioneering work and leadership in broadcast and narrowcast EdgeQAM systems, are well suited to the needs of rapidly growing cable television markets such as China and India. The Harmonic solution incorporates key functionality that, while protecting an operator's substantial investment in SDH, allows local programming to be cost-effectively incorporated into the channel line-up as well as the sharing of services between operators.

"DS-3 is an extremely common telecom backbone network technology. Any architectural changes necessary to support emerging services -- such as digital television -- need to be evolutionary in nature. This was a key design consideration behind Harmonic's new Broadcast Network Gateway, which enables digital video services to be efficiently transported over SDH and then distributed over a QAM-based access network," said Buddy Snow, Vice President of Marketing for Harmonic's Convergent Systems Division. "Our new BNG solution embodies what the market has generally come to expect from Harmonic: exceptional value, seamless integration, increased flexibility and greater scalability. With the BNG, we anticipate Harmonic will be able to increase its potential in countries with a large installed base of SDH networks. It also opens the door to further deployment of our award-winning Narrowcast Services Gateway, the platform of choice for content-on-demand service delivery."

The Broadcast Network Gateway solution for SDH environments is comprised of two cost-effective products. The BNG 6402, which typically resides at a main headend or contribution site, multiplexes/re-multiplexes MPEG-2 video streams and then prepares the transport stream for distribution over the DS-3 network. The BNG 6102 DS-3, located in a remote headend or hub, demarcates the SDH video backbone and the local HFC network. In addition to a seamless DS-3 to QAM interface, the system allows operators to concurrently provision a complete line-up of digital and analog video services as well as to economically incorporate locally produced programming. Through this approach, a local network operator can grow its headend infrastructure incrementally, in accordance with the needs of its market, while always providing a compelling suite of services.

The BNG solution is monitored and managed through a standalone browser-based tool. The web interface allows remote configuration and operation of the system, further reducing the operational costs.

About Harmonic Inc.

Harmonic Inc. is a leading provider of digital video, broadband optical networking and IP delivery systems to cable, satellite, telecom and broadcast network operators. Harmonic's open standards-based solutions for the headend through the last mile enable customers to develop new revenue sources and a competitive advantage by offering powerful interactive video, voice and data services such as video-on-demand, high definition digital television, telephony and Internet access.

Harmonic (Nasdaq:HLIT) is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California with R&D, sales and system integration centers worldwide. The Company's customers, including many of the world's largest communications providers, deliver services in virtually every country. Visit www.harmonicinc.com for more information.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27(A) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21(E) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements related to anticipated features and benefits of the BNG solution, allowing cable operators to more fully utilize their existing network investments, reducing the cost of introducing, managing and extending a secure multichannel digital television service, increasing Harmonic's potential in countries with a large installed base of SDH networks, opening the door for further deployments of the award-winning Narrowcast Services Gateway, and the incremental growth of headend infrastructure. Our expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize, and actual results could differ materially from those projected. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Harmonic's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Annual Report filed on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003. Harmonic does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements.

EDITOR'S NOTE -- Product and company names used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

    CONTACT: AxiCom (Media Relations for Harmonic)
             Stephen Orr, +44.(0)20.8392.4056 or 408-543-2360
             stephen.orr@axicom.com
               or
             StreetConnect (Investor Relations for Harmonic)
             Michael Newman, 408-542-2760
             mnewman@stct.com

    SOURCE: Harmonic Inc.