First quarter 2013 (1Q13) spending on broadband aggregation equipment was up in North America, but down elsewhere, according to the latest report from Infonetics Research. 

AloStar Business Credit says it has provided a $12 million secured revolving credit facility to Sycamore Networks Solutions, Inc., a provider of intelligent optical networking and multiservice access platforms. The secured revolving credit facility provides the company access to working capital and additional liquidity to support growth of the company’s operations.

Alain Couder has retired as chairman and CEO of Oclaro, Inc. (NASDAQ: OCLR). Current board members Greg Dougherty and Marissa Peterson will assume the roles of CEO and board chair, respectively.

Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) exceeded analyst revenue expectations for the second consecutive quarter. The optical transport equipment specialist reported $507.7 million in revenues for its fiscal second quarter, which ended April 30, 2013.

In spite of a down quarter to start the year, Infonetics Research expects the carrier router and switch market to grow at an 8.8% compound annual growth rate through 2017, according to its latest market report and forecast, which tracks IP edge and core routers and Carrier Ethernet switches (CES).

Telecommunications and CATV test equipment vendor VeEX Inc. has agreed to acquire “substantially all” of the assets of Sunrise Telecom Inc. (OTC: SRTI), the two companies say. Sunrise also makes test gear for telecom operators and cable MSOs.

Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX; TASE: MLNX) is getting serious about its optical transmission capabilities. A little more than two weeks after announcing its intention to buy silicon photonics stalwart Kotura (see “Mellanox to buy silicon photonics developer Kotura”), the storage networking company says it will write another large check for an optical technology company, privately held IPtronics A/S. Mellanox says its will pay approximately $47.5 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments, for the Danish developer of transmitter and receiver technology best known for its work in parallel optical array applications.

Telecom Italia’s board of directors approved on Thursday, May 30, a proposal to spin out its fixed access networks business into a separate company. The cash-hungry national service provider hopes to convince Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, a state-backed investment fund, to take a stake in the resultant company.

Arthur D. Little, in a report released last week at the 2013 Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council Asia Pacific Conference in Auckland, New Zealand, suggests that governments looking to roll out fiber-optic broadband networks on a nationwide scale likely would do best to get out of the way of industry in markets that would naturally attract investment and focus their efforts on areas that the free market will likely ignore.

While the use of passive optical network (PON) technology for mobile backhaul isn’t new, Julie Kunstler, principal analyst at Ovum, suggests that the evolution through 3G, 4G LTE, and small cells will make the FTTx technology even more appealing for such applications. The result could be a market opportunity on the scale of $1 billion, she predicts.

Sales of 100-Gbps optical network (ON) technology surpassed $1 billion on an annualized basis for the first time, according to market research and consulting firm Ovum. However, its analysis of 1Q13 fiber-optic network equipment sales indicates that overall growth in the market remains challenging.

Overture Networks Inc. says it has secured an initial equity investment of $8 million, with an opportunity to raise up to $11.7 million, to support new software, hardware, and service development initiatives.

Accelero Capital Holdings S.à.r.l. Group says it has signed a binding agreement with Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. (TSX: MBT) to acquire the Allstream business in a transaction that values Allstream at CAN$520 million, subject to certain customary adjustments, including assumed debt obligations and normalized working capital, as well as certain pension-related obligations. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2013, subject to regulatory approvals.

UK fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service provider Hyperoptic says that has received an equity investment commitment of £50 million led by Quantum Strategic Partners Ltd. (Quantum). Quantum is a private investment vehicle managed by Soros Fund Management LLC for the benefit of well-known investor George Soros and Soros family clients.

Pushable fiber-optic cable developer m2fx says it has closed a $3 million (£2 million) funding round, led by existing investor Linnaeus Capital Partner B.V. The company will use the money to boost sales and expand its customer base, particularly in the fiber to the premises (FTTP) applications.

Sales of packet-optical transport systems continued to shine in the first quarter of 2013, rising 23% year on year to $1.1 billion. The figures are contained in a newly published report from Dell’Oro Group.

As part of its review of its operations, Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has decided to cease the manufacture of communications cables. The operations are part of the company’s Networks business unit.

Proving that it’s all how you look at things, analysts at Infonetics Research say there’s reason for optimism among optical transport equipment vendors in 2013, despite the fact that sales during the first quarter declined year on year.

Chinese telecommunications equipment vendors Huawei and ZTE are in hot water again, this time in Europe. The European Commission, via Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, cited the two firms this past Friday, May 17, for violating EU rules against dumping and subsidies in connection with the prices the two companies have charged for mobile network equipment, according to Reuters.

Mellanox Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ: MLNX; TASE: MLNX), which focuses on interconnect for servers and storage systems, says it has agreed to purchase silicon photonics technology developer Kotura Inc. for approximately $82 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments.

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) pleased Wall Street yesterday when it announced net sales for its fiscal third quarter of $12.2 billion and GAAP net income of $2.5 billion ($0.46 per share). The revenue numbers were within Cisco’s guidance of $12.05 billion to $12.28 billion, but surpassed consensus pre-announcement estimates of $12.18 billion.

Coherent transmission technology developer Acacia Communications has closed a new $20 million funding round. The money will be used for a variety of purposes, according to a company press release: expansion into new markets, development of new products and, potentially, acquisitions.

Cable maker Prysmian Group says it has a new fiber-optic cable production facility at its campus in Slatina, Romania. The new production capability will triple the factory’s fiber-optic cable capacity to 1.5 million km, with the potential to reach 3 million km.

Cable & Wireless Communications PLC (CWC) says it has entered into a strategic alliance with Columbus Networks Ltd. to develop its international wholesale capacity business. Under the alliance, CWC and Columbus will form a joint venture in the pan-America region that will provide international wholesale capacity to both companies, as well as to third-party carriers.