Hot off the press

Ciena Corp. (Linthicum, MD) has acquired startup Cyras Systems Inc. (Fremont, CA) for 27 million shares of Ciena common stock. Ciena also assumes $150 million of Cyras's outstanding convertible debt. The value of the deal is approximately $2.6 billion. Cyras has focused on optical switching for metropolitan-area networks. Its initial product, the K2 Trans-Metro Optical Platform, is a data-optimized SONET transport and switching platform designed to comprise the functions of digital crossconnects, SONET add/drop multiplexers, ATM service access multiplexers and switches, frame relay access switches, DSLAMs, DWDM wavelength adapters, and MPLS switches.

C-COR.net (State College, PA) has expanded its strategic vendor relationship with Filtronic Broadband Ltd. (West Yorkshire, UK) to cover digital return-path products employing radio-based waveform compression and demodulation software developed by Sigtek Inc. (Columbia, MD), a recent Filtronic acquisition. Per the agreement, C-COR.net and Sigtek will develop a customized modular product that will be compatible with C-COR.net's existing domestic and international hybrid fiber/coax nodes. The companies will also jointly develop complementary hub/headend equipment compatible with C-COR.net's 3 RU Universal Chassis.

Optical Cable Corp. (Roanoke, VA) has received a $2.1-million order from what it describes as a "major Internet hosting company" for approximately 1 million feet of fiber-optic cable. The cable will be installed at the customer's Internet data centers located throughout the country. Delivery on the cable has begun and is expected to conclude in April.

LayerOne (Dallas) has entered into a national service agreement with Yipes Communications (San Francisco), which will extend Yipes's high-speed managed optical-networking services into LayerOne's NEXUS Optical Distribution Exchanges. Yipes will initially enter LayerOne Exchanges in Dallas and Miami, increasing its access to long-haul and local fiber networks and giving its customers new entrance points into telecommunications markets. LayerOne has also announced a service agreement with Wired Business (Vienna, VA) to extend the Wired Business network through its NEXUS Optical Distribution Exchanges. Wired Business will begin immediate deployment in LayerOne's Miami facility.

Cox Communications Inc. (Atlanta) has begun a 4,300-mi digital plant upgrade in Fairfax County, VA, with initial deployment of Scientific-Atlanta Inc.'s (Norcross, GA) end-to-end system solution. Per the agreement, Scientific-Atlanta will supply Cox with content distribution, broadband access, subscriber networks, and complete service support.

Everest Broadband Networks (Fort Lee, NJ) has signed a 20-year agreement to lease local-loop and in-building fiber-optic infrastructure from Metromedia Fiber Network Inc. (MFN-New York), provider of optical Internet Protocol (IP) infrastructure. Everest expects the local-loop and in-building fiber to speed its deployment of Gigabit Ethernet services to multitenant-unit-based small- and medium-sized businesses by eliminating the need for Everest to build networks in new markets. Everest has also announced two deals in the New York City area to provide broadband services to the first tenants of the Telecom Center at Bush Terminal, a new technology center in Brooklyn. In addition, Everest has signed an access contract with Cammeby's International, wiring seven Class A office buildings in the New York City area, totaling 2.5 million square feet.

Broadwing Communications (Austin, TX) has deployed the MultiWave CoreDirector intelligent optical switch from Ciena Corp. (Linthicum, MD) to provide its business customers a direct link to Broadwing's 18,000-mi all-optical network. Currently, the optical-switching systems are being deployed in Fort Worth, TX; New York; Atlanta; and Washington, DC. Broadwing has also signed a three-year deal with WideOpenWest LLC (Littleton, CO) to provide scalable bandwidth for the company's high-speed Internet services. Per the agreement, Broadwing will provide WideOpenWest with dedicated Internet access to its 18,000-mi pure IP network.

Calient Networks (San Jose, CA) has announced interoperability between its DiamondWave photonic switch and Tellabs' (Lisle, IL) TITAN 6100 optical transport system. Calient recently established its multivendor OP3 initiative to test its DiamondWave 256 switch with emerging network elements in two-layer photonic network environments, implementing three distinct phases of testing in various legacy, IP service, metro, and long-haul applications. Sprint Corp. (Westwood, KS) has also announced a multiyear agreement with Tellabs for the TITAN 6500 multiservice transport switch. The agreement is valued at more than $100 million over the life of the contract.

Ixia (Calabasas, CA) has received orders from service providers AT&T (New York), Qwest (Denver), and Sprint Corp. (Westwood, KS) for its new packet-over-SONET OC-192c optical performance analysis systems. The LMOC192c Load Module is a tool for testing network equipment with WAN packet-over-SONET/SDH interfaces operating at the OC-192 level.

SDL Inc. (San Jose) has entered into a two-year agreement with IPG Photonics Corp. (Sturbridge, MA) to provide high volumes of multimode pump lasers for an array of cladding-pumped fiber products from IPG. Per the agreement, worth an expected $66.7 million, SDL will supply IPG with substantial quantities of pump lasers through the end of next year.

ANDA Networks (San Jose) has accepted a $9-million value-added reseller agreement with ADC Telecommunications subsidiary ADC DSL Inc. (Minnetonka, MN), which runs through June. Per the agreement, the companies will co-market products delivering bundled voice and data solutions such as VoDSL, VoATM, and IP services in addition to SONET and two-wire analog solutions for ILECs and CLECs.

CoreExpress (St. Louis) has deployed Juniper Networks Inc.'s (Sunnyvale, CA) M20 Internet backbone routers to provide scalability and increased manageability for the CoreExpress Extranet service. CoreExpress will use the M20 routers with Juniper Networks' new Internet Processor II ASIC. The deployment will span CoreExpress's Internet Data Exchange System, which includes a 22,000-mi redundant OC-192 fiber-optic network.

Carriers' carrier Progress Telecom (St. Petersburg, FL) has selected ONI Systems (San Jose) as a major supplier for its optical metro networks in an agreement worth at least $15 million in equipment and services. ONI's ONLINE all-optical platform already powers live traffic across Progress Telecom's Miami and Tampa rings, and the carrier has the option to deploy ONLINE systems in Atlanta; Charlotte and Raleigh, NC; Jacksonville, FL; and Washington, DC.

Network-infrastructure services provider Universal Access Inc. (Chicago) has signed a reciprocal arrangement with Williams Communications (Tulsa, OK). Per the agreement, Williams has become part of Universal Access's Universal Transport Exchange (UTX) facilities to supply long-haul carrier services to Universal Access service-provider customers. In addition, Universal Access will provision circuits for Williams's service-provider customers using its Universal Information Exchange database and the UTX facilities.

The California Coastal Commission has approved the installation of Global Photon Systems Inc.'s (San Diego) Global West Network, a 358-mi underwater north-south fiber-optic cable system linking coastal cities from San Diego to Morro Bay, CA. Construction of the $150-million network began last month and is expected to take four or five months. According to the company, the cable system is designed to support DWDM without the requirement for electrical power in the cable.

Gigabit business enterprise service provider FiberCity Networks Inc. (Newark, NJ) has announced the development and deployment of a 4.8-Gbit/sec per-building last-mile network and has begun providing broadband fiber-optic data services to over 4.5 million square feet of Class A commercial office space. The company has already signed agreements with building owners to permit the deployment of its network into almost 200 buildings in major cities throughout North America, totaling approximately 100 million square feet.

360networks (Vancouver) has announced plans for metro rings in more than 35 major cities worldwide by the middle of 2001. The company will develop these metro rings in cities in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia through construction projects as well as network-capacity exchanges, purchases, and leases with other telecommunications carriers.

GiantLoop Network Inc. (Waltham, MA) has introduced Optical Storage Networking (OSN), a portfolio of professional services and managed optical-networking services specifically de signed for the storage applications of Global 250 companies. OSN, the storage-centric side of GiantLoop's Enterprise Optical Networking, enables large enterprises to aggregate networking storage protocols like Escon/Ficon and Fibre Channel on a single fiber-optic network.

Corning Cable Systems (Hickory, NC) has introduced the restricted mode launch (RML) bandwidth specification for its loose-tube and tight-buffer optical-fiber cables. The company will specify and guarantee RML specification for its cable using Corning's InfiniCor 300 and InfiniCor CL 1000 multimode fibers.

Corning Inc. (Corning, NY) has completed the acquisition of Pirelli SpA's (Milan) 90% interest in Pirelli's optical components and devices business for $3.6 billion in cash. In a separate transaction, Corning acquired the remaining 10% of the company owned by Cisco Systems Inc. (San Jose) for approximately 5.5 million shares of Corning common stock.

INRANGE Technologies (Mount Laurel, NJ) has introduced its SAN LAB strategic services program, which enables customers to deploy and evaluate the company's IN-VSN storage-area network (SAN) offerings in pre-production SAN laboratories. The SAN LAB setup can be done either at the company's facilities or at the customer site. To complement the SAN LAB program, INRANGE has announced a series of SAN education classes designed to broaden customers' understanding of Fibre Channel technology and SAN architectures.

Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) has announced that its microelectronics spinoff has selected Agere Systems (Allentown, PA) as its name. Formerly Lucent's Microelectronics Group, the new company plans an initial public offering for the end of this quarter. The spinoff should be completed by the summer of 2001.

Optical-networking startup Point Reyes Networks has established its headquarters in San Jose and has a research and development center in the Telecom Corridor in Richardson, TX. The company plans to bring its all-IP solution to the public network this year.

Optical Research Associates (ORA-Pasadena, CA) has announced the formation of a new photonics systems engineering (PSE) group within its Optical Engineering Services group. The PSE group will focus primarily on supplying optical design and consulting services to the telecommunications market.

Startup Alfalight Inc. (Madison, WI), a developer and manufacturer of several high-power pump laser products targeting applications in the optical-amplifier market, has closed its second round of funding at $28 million. Led by Advanced Technology Ventures, Interwest Partners, Centerpoint Ventures, and The Infrastructure Fund, the round also included original first-round investor ARCH Venture Partners. Alfalight will use the funding to commercialize its laser modules and expand its Madison, WI, and Montreal facilities.

Startup Allegro Networks (San Jose) has received $24 million in first-round financing to develop a new platform for wholesale broadband access services. Bessemer Venture Partners, Columbia Capital, and Infinity Capital participated in the round.

OptXCon Inc. (Research Triangle Park, NC), a manufacturer of optical-crossconnect technologies for metropolitan-area, access, and enterprise networks, has closed $12.2 million in first-round equity financing. Boston Millennia Partners and H.I.G. Capital led the round, which also included an additional investment from Corning Innovation Ventures. OptXCon will use the funding to support growth, accelerate product development, and drive employee-recruitment efforts.

Accent Optical Technologies Inc. (Bend, OR), a manufacturer of process control and measurement tools, has closed its second round of funding totaling $15.9 million. Participants in this round of funding included iVisionary, MCP Global Ltd., Mentmore Venture Partners, NetNet Ventures Fund, RS Coinvestment Fund, Tennyson Fund, and Winfield Capital Corp. The net proceeds will be used to finance the development of an optoelectronic research and development center in Hemel Hempstead, England, as well as to expand facilities in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.

Internet Machines Corp. (Agoura Hills, CA), developer of network-processor and switch-fabric solutions, has received an investment from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter as part of the company's Series B round of funding. The round also included funding from first-round investor Redpoint Ventures and new investor Meritech Capital. Internet Machines will use the funding to continue research and development.

Terremark Worldwide Inc. (Miami) has opened the first of its Asia-based TerreNAP data centers in Beijing, China. TerreNAP Beijing is a partnership between Terremark and BroadOnline, a wholly Chinese-owned networking services provider. It is a tier 1 facility located within China Telecom's Beijing Interexchange Center, a central hub where the fiber networks in Northern China connect with domestic and international Internet gateways.

Broadband-network service provider Multa Communications Corp. (MultaCom-Los Angeles) has announced that its DS-3 undersea fiber-optic cable connection between the U.S. and mainland China is available for sale. MultaCom, which signed a strategic, bilateral sales and marketing agreement with China Unicom Ltd. (Beijing) last November, is now able to offer one-hop clear-channel and frame relay service to Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou for telecommunications carriers, ISPs, data-center providers, and international enterprises.

Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) has signed an $8-million contract with China's Shandong Telecom, a subsidiary of China Telecom (Beijing), for Lucent's WaveStar TDM 10G SDH system. Lucent will also supply Shandong Telecom with its WaveStar ADM 16/1 multiplexers and network-management systems, including Lucent's Integrated Transport Management subnetwork controller and its subnetwork-management system.

Avici Systems Inc. (North Billerica, MA) has expanded its global sales, service, and support capabilities in Asia by partnering with CommVerge Solutions (Hong Kong). Per the agreement, CommVerge will market, resell, and support Avici's Terabit Switch Router in locations such as Hong Kong, Bangkok, Beijing, Brunei, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore, and Taipei.

Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. (Tokyo) and Tyco Electronics Corp. (Harrisburg, PA) have completed a licensing agreement for the production of AMP LIGHTRAY MPX interconnection system products. Both companies have agreed to multisource the fiber-optic backplane interconnection line.

DWDM components manufacturer NTT Electronics (Tokyo) plans to expand its production facilities fivefold this month. The new plant will respond to the increased demand for arrayed-waveguide gratings, planar-lightwave circuits for switches or interleavers, high-performance laser diodes and photodiodes, and ultra-high-speed GaAs ICs and modules.

EXFO Electro-Optical Engineering Inc. (Quebec City) has received a $1-million order from Deutsche Telekom AG (Bonn, Germany) for a series of portable polarization-mode-dispersion (PMD) analyzers. Deutsche Telekom will use EXFO's portable PMD analyzers to ensure that mesh connections in its high-capacity voice and data network can handle an increase in transmission rate from 2.5 to 10 Gbits/sec.

Telecommunications capacity exchange Band-X (London) has acquired Hanse-X (Frankfurt), Germany's biggest exchange for switched traffic. Hanse-X will be renamed Band-X Germany following a technology investment program, designed to upgrade Hanse-X's existing switching and billing infrastructure. The program also includes the purchase of a Telsis Fast Ocean SSP voice switch for its Frankfurt point-of-presence. Construction is also underway for a Frankfurt-based Band-X Routed IP exchange, expected to go live this quarter.

Marconi Communications (Pittsburgh) has signed a framework agreement with Tele Danmark (Copenhagen) that could be worth up to x20 million over the next three years. Per the agreement, Marconi will supply STM-64 multiplexers and crossconnects from its MSH series to supplement the Marconi multiplexers that have been installed in the Tele Danmark network over the past four years. The entire system will be managed by Marconi's MV36 management system. Marconi's DWDM networking equipment and network-management system have also been chosen by the Finnet Group (Helsinki), a consortium of private telecommunications network operators in Finland. The system includes four DWDM links based on Marconi optical terminal multiplexers and optical add/drop multiplexers.

France Telecom (Paris) has selected Avici Systems' (North Billerica, MA) Terabit Switch Router (TSR) for inclusion in the VTHD (very high bandwidth) experimental network, a multivendor platform created to support Internet technology, which was researched and co-founded by France Telecom and the French government. In addition to the TSR deployment, Avici and France Telecom R&D will collaborate on advanced optical-internetworking solutions.

Metromedia Fiber Network Inc. (MFN-New York) has launched two new European Internet Services Exchanges (ISXs) in Amsterdam and Paris. The Amsterdam ISX, which became operational last November, is also home to the Network Operations Center at the heart of MFN's European network. The Paris data center became operational last December, and brings MFN's total operating ISXs to 16 globally; seven are in Europe.

Alcatel (Paris) and Acterna Corp. (formerly Wavetek Wandel Goltermann-Germantown, MD) have announced the integration of their platforms to deliver an optical test system designed to improve the operation of optical networks. Known as Port Optimization, the integrated solution combines Alcatel's Optinex 1680 OGX digital-crossconnect system with Acterna's optical test solution, the CENTEST Broadband Test System (BTS). The resultant solution enables multiple simultaneous tests to be performed by the CENTEST BTS from a shared OC-3 or OC-12 port on the 1680 OGX.

INFIGATE GmbH (Prague) has selected Alcatel (Paris) to deploy an optical-fiber network in Central and Eastern Europe over the next three years. The total contract represents 1.6 million km of hybrid optical fiber, composed of Alcatel's singlemode fiber and TeraLight, the company's nonzero dispersion-shifted fiber. The Pan East European network will initially connect Prague, Frankfurt, Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava, Warsaw, and Berlin.

UnitedNetworks (Auckland, New Zealand) has selected an end-to-end, large-scale gigabit-networking optical Ethernet solution from Nortel Networks (Ontario) for use in its open access wholesale fiber-optic network. Now under construction in the central business districts of Auckland and Wellington, the network should be completed early this year. UnitedNetworks has also engaged Nortel's Global Professional Services to design and implement operational systems for the network and manage the network-operations center using Nortel's Preside network and services management solution.

AirFiber Inc. (San Diego) has announced an OEM agreement with Comsyst Pty Ltd. (Australia) that will extend distribution of AirFiber's wireless optical-networking products. Per the agreement, Comsyst will distribute AirFiber's OptiMesh products to customers in Australia. According to the companies, the OptiMesh products will provide network solutions for carriers by offering end-to-end, high-bandwidth access from the backbone to the end user.

Kingfisher International (Victoria, Australia) has entered into an OEM partnership with Agilent Technologies (Palo Alto, CA) to resell Kingfisher optical test equipment under the Agilent brand name. The agreement covers Kingfisher's KI7402 source, KI76000-InGaAs meter, and the KI7010 attenuator.