Civcom and LETEK to develop long-reach tunable transponders

February 23, 2004 Los Angeles, CA -- Civcom, developer of dynamic optical components, and LETEK Communications, manufacturer of DWDM optical modules and systems, are entering into a joint-development partnership that will focus on the development of enhanced performance, widely tunable transponders for long-range DWDM applications.

Feb 23rd, 2004

February 23, 2004 Los Angeles, CA -- Civcom, developer of dynamic optical components, and LETEK Communications , manufacturer of DWDM optical modules and systems, are entering into a joint-development partnership that will focus on the development of enhanced performance, widely tunable transponders for long-range DWDM applications.

LETEK--whose current product portfolio includes the SPARK family of 2.5- and 10-Gbit/sec transmitters, receivers, transceivers, and transponders--is combining forces with Civcom, maker of Free-Light 10-Gbit/sec widely tunable transponders. Civcom's Free-Light FL-TT-10G product, which received the Lightwave Attendees' Choice Award at the 2003 NFOEC show last September, was the world's first widely tunable 10-Gbit/sec 300-pin MSA compliant transponder, say company representatives.

The focus of the development will be to combine the strengths of both companies to design a longer-reach widely tunable transponder than what is currently available. It is expected that the new product will improve the reach and dispersion tolerance of existing LR-2 tunable transponders by 50-100%. This increased performance in a widely tunable package, ideal for sparing applications, will help drive down overall capital and operational expenditure costs to carriers by reducing the need for expensive optical regeneration and amplification.

"Civcom has had a lot of interest with the Free-Light tunable transponder," reports Jacob Vertman, Civcom's senior vice president of marketing and business development, "But a number of customers have requested to extend the reach of their links to allow for more flexible network topologies."

LETEK, a Korean-based company, is seeing strong demand in the Asia-Pacific market for its products. "The Korean DWDM market is developing very rapidly and it is expected that Japan and China will continue this growth over the coming years," adds Dahee Ihm, president and CEO of LETEK Communications. "We already have a Tier-1 target customer lined up for this new product," he adds.

Civcom will be demonstrating the Free-Light FL-TT-10G at the OFC Conference and Exposition, February 24-26 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Booth 1525.