Industry Update

American Fiber Systems Inc. (AFS-Rochester, NY) has announced that its Nashville, TN, dark fiber network is now operational. The 50-mile AFS ring winds through Nashville's metropolitan area and surrounding communities connecting key points of presence (PoPs), including telephone company central offices, long-distance company PoPs, high-density office complexes, and carrier hotels. The network provides immediate on-network access to the local facilities of Level 3 Communications and to telephone company central offices in the area. AFS has also deployed dark fiber metro networks in Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, and Cleveland.

Alcatel Optronics (Paris), CyOptics Inc. (Waltham, MA), and Oki Electric Industry Co. (Tokyo), all of whom play in the electro-absorption (EA) domain, have launched a joint effort to define a multisource agreement (MSA) for 40-Gbit/sec EA modulator-based products. The MSA is expected to have multiple phases. The first, covering pinout and footprint standardization, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. That will be followed immediately by standardization of the performance specification.

ARCOS, a fiber-optic-cable network owned by New World Network (Miami), has been completed and is now commercially available. The ARCOS ring links 24 landing points in 15 countries within South, Central, and North America and extends for a total length of 8,600 km around the Caribbean. Siemens IC Networks (Munich) played a key role as the network's major equipment supplier.

FPL FiberNet LLC (Miami), a wholesaler of dark fiber and capacity in Florida's major metropolitan areas, has announced the signing of a 20-year agreement with Centennial Florida Switch Corp., a subsidiary of Centennial Communications Corp. (Wall, NJ). Centennial will leverage FPL FiberNet's connectivity between the ARCOS fiber-cable-network station, which is primarily owned by New World Networks and NAP of the Americas.

Tylite Inc. (Liberty Lake, WA), in partnership with Central Telecom East Inc. (Yakima, WA), has been awarded the WAN equipment project for Central Valley School District (CVSD) #356, Spokane County, WA. The initial project phase of five sites includes the Educational Service Center, Horizon Junior High School, Chester Elementary, and the two new high schools opening September 2002, Central Valley and University. The CVSD project includes the labor, materials, equipment, installation, and maintenance of WAN equipment.

DixieNet Communications, a Ripley, MS-based telephone company, and Metro-Optix (Santa Clara, CA) have announced a multimillion-dollar agreement to deploy Metro-Optix's CityStream bandwidth managers in DixieNet's fiber-optic network. Metro-Optix will provide complete installation, training, and related services as part of the contract. Network deployment began in February in seven local exchanges, with another 10 local exchanges to be added by the end of 2002.

Xindium Technologies Inc. (Champaign, IL), an early-stage optoelectronic IC manufacturer, has revealed plans to enter the market for high-frequency/high-bit-rate semiconductor digital- and optical-component devices. Founded in February 2001 with venture backing from Vantage Point Venture Partners and encouragement from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Xindium will design, license, and manufacture indium phosphide-based integrated devices for 40-Gbit/sec and higher bit-rate applications.

T-Networks Inc. (Allentown, PA) has announced its entry into the optoelectronics modulator market. The company recently captured indium phosphide-based modulator design wins with established optical equipment manufacturers in key market segments, including 10-Gbit/sec DWDM, 10-Gbit/sec long-reach, and 40-Gbit/sec 2-km applications. These design wins are expected to result in volume product shipments and revenue generation by the third quarter of this year.

Leading scientists in the optical-networking field have established Inplane Photonics (South Plainfield, NJ), a developer and manufacturer of small, low-cost integrated optical components (IOCs) and platforms. Inplane is developing advanced IOCs for network subsystem and systems manufacturers that will reduce system costs, size, and complexity while increasing reliability in optical networks, company representatives claim. Inplane recently closed its first round of funding-in excess of $20 million-led by Jerusalem Venture Partners and Morgenthaler.

Agere Systems (Allentown, PA) and Nortel Networks (Ottawa, Ontario) have announced what they claim is the industry's first multisource agreement to establish standards for surface-mount 10-Gbit/sec receivers. The companies will independently develop and market respective lines of 10-Gbit/sec PIN (positive intrinsic negative) and APD (avalanche photodiode) receivers based on this standard, which specifies product package outlines, pin function definitions, and optical and electrical characteristics for small-form-factor (8x10.7x 3.3-mm) surface-mount receivers.

Through a joint development program launched last August, Clarendon Photonics Inc. (Newton, MA), supplier of integrated photonic components, and Micron Technology Inc. (Boise, ID), provider of memory semiconductor products, have announced the successful fabrication of a fully integrated, four-channel reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer. The optical waveguide chips are designed with Clarendon's proprietary reconfigurable filter technology and are fabricated using Micron's 0.13-micron CMOS process technology.

Siemens Information and Communication Networks Inc. (Boca Raton, FL) has finalized qualification of OMM Inc.'s (San Diego) micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) for its Optisphere MTS Multi-Haul DWDM product line. Siemens currently uses OMM's Telcordia-certified two-dimensional MEMS technology in its latest optical-crossconnect product. The company is now working to integrate the MEMS technology into its MTS Transparent Networking platform.

White Rock Networks (Richardson, TX), provider of next-generation optical transport systems for the local metro transport market, has selected ADC (Eden Prairie, MN) as a preferred service provider. ADC will provide complete engineering, furnishing, and installation services to support White Rock's family of high-speed metro optical transport products.

Metromedia Fiber Network Inc. (MFN-New York) has expanded its U.S. relationship with Electronic Arts (Redwood City, CA) to provide fiber-optic infrastructure, collocation services, and Internet connectivity to support Electronic Arts' EA.com Internet operations in Japan. Electronic Arts, an interactive entertainment software company, will use MFN's high-performance network to deliver media-rich entertainment, including Ultima Online, the most popular role-playing game in Japan.

Spectra-Physics (Mountain View, CA) and NP Photonics Inc. (Tucson, AZ) have entered into a joint product development agreement to produce highly miniaturized, optical-fiber-based amplifiers for telecommunications applications. The multiyear agreement calls for the two companies to engage in joint development, manufacture, and marketing of products based on NP Photonics' Erbium Microfiber Amplifier (EMFA) technology. Spectra-Physics will contribute its design and volume manufacturing capabilities in semiconductor pump lasers and fiber amplifiers.

Network-management software provider Clear (Chicago) has announced a solution partnership with Calient Networks (San Jose, CA), manufacturer of intelligent photonic-switching systems. Clear's flagship product, Clearview, will allow carriers to monitor Calient's DiamondWave photonic switches as they dynamically establish wavelength paths. Clearview will conduct fault isolation for the Calient transparent all-optical portion of the network as well as monitor the overall multivendor, multitechnology network for faults, performance, and service-level agreements.

Network Photonics Inc. (Boulder, CO), an all-optical wavelength-switching subsystems provider, has entered into a supply agreement with Fairchild Semiconductor (South Portland, ME), whereby Fairchild will fabricate one-dimensional micro-electromechanical systems (1-D MEMS) devices for Network Photonics. The 1-D MEMS devices are a key component in Network Photonics' CrossWave all-optical-switching subsystems.

Silicon Light Machines (SLM-Sunnyvale, CA), an optical subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor, has entered into a manufacturing agreement with Flextronics Photonics (Singapore), whereby Flextronics will provide packaging design services and manufacture equipment for SLM that utilizes SLM's Grating Light Valve (GLV) technology. Currently used in high-resolution displays, GLV technology offers a means for increasing the signal bandwidth and reliability for fiber-optic communications products. Initial products manufactured by Flextronics are expected to ship in the second quarter.

Olympus Integrated Technologies America Inc. (San Jose, CA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Olympus Optical Co. Ltd., (Tokyo) has announced the formation of the Olympus Partnership Development Group to enhance the success of partner companies through technology and business alliances. Partnerships are planned with both early-stage and established companies among industries ranging from semiconductors to optical communications and optical networking. Areas of technical interest include laser optics, optical switches, DWDM, and optical wireless as well as machine vision optics, automotive, illumination/lighting, sensors, and security.

Innovance Networks (Ottawa, Ontario, and Piscataway, NJ) has closed its Series B financing, raising over $55 million in venture capital from both existing and new investors. JDS Uniphase and Corning participated in the financing as key industry investors. The new funds will be used to support the commercial launch of Innovance Networks' photonic-networking system, which follows the successful completion of testing and trials with several major North American service providers.

Ocean Design Inc. (ODI-Ormond Beach, FL), a subsea fiber-optic and electrical connectivity company, has formed a strategic partnership with Bank of America Capital Investors (BACI), a $1.5-billion Bank of America investment arm. BACI has made a significant equity investment in ODI and pledged additional capital to support the company's future needs.

Wave7 Optics Inc. (Alpharetta, GA), developer of optical access equipment for the fiber-to-the-home and -business (FTTX) market, has raised a second round of funding totaling $23 million, bringing the company's total funds raised to $32 million.

Advanced Technology Ventures led the Series B round with new investors Mellon Ventures and Armada Venture Partners. Founding investors Morgenthaler and Lucent Venture Partners also participated in the round.

Transparent Networks Inc. (Santa Clara, CA), developer of intelligent photonic-switching systems, has completed $20 million in second-round venture funding, bringing the total raised by the company to $30.2 million since its inception in June 2000. The lead investor was U.S. Venture Partners. This latest round also included pro-rata funding from previous-round investor Benchmark Capital.

Silicon Access Networks (San Jose, CA) has secured $39 million in its fourth round of funding, led by Soros Private Equity Partners and Norwest Venture Partners. New investors included Pilgrim Baxter, Van Wagoner Capital Management, Parker Price Venture Capital, and Glynn Capital. Also participating were previous investors Tallwood Venture Capital, the Sprout Group, and Synopsys. The investment will be used to continue the roll-out of the company's iFlow data-path processing platform, which includes a 20-Gbit/sec network processor and suite of co-processors for address lookup, billing and statistics, and packet classification.

Caspian Networks Inc. (San Jose) has secured $120 million in fourth-round financing, bringing total investment in the company to more than a quarter-billion dollars ($262 million). The new round, expected to be the company's final private round, was co-led by existing investors U.S. Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, and Merrill Lynch and new investors Morgenthaler and Oak Investment Partners.

Optigain Inc. (Peace Dale, RI), developer, manufacturer, and supplier of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) and Raman pump modules, has been re-capitalized and received new funding that will enable the company to fully support its current business and forecasts. Following the restructuring, Fitel Technologies Inc. (Clinton, NJ), a subsidiary of Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. (Tokyo), will continue as a minority shareholder and supplier to Optigain.

Terremark Worldwide Inc. (Miami) has signed a binding partnership agreement with FAPESP-the State of Sao Paulo's (Brazil) Research Foundation-to operate and manage Brazil's premier network access point (NAP), the only peering point in that country operated by a state or federal government. Terremark will operate and manage the Sao Paulo-based NAP do Brasil at the same quality and performance standards in effect at Terremark's NAP of the Americas-the world's fifth tier one NAP-located in Miami.

British Telecommunications plc (BT-London) and Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) have successfully implemented a high-capacity optical network designed to support BT's growing international requirements and expansion into the provisioning and services sector. The network stretches across the South of England connecting to a transatlantic subsea cable network constructed by the TAT-14 Consortium. The overland network has been constructed using Lucent's WaveStar Bandwidth Manager, WaveStar OLS 400G system, and WaveStar TDM 10G. The network is already supporting its first customers and will continue to be developed over an initial five-year period.

Nextrom Technologies (Old Lyme, CT) has acquired Sysmelec SA's (Gals, Switzerland) activities and expertise in the automation of fiber-optic processing, handling, and attachment. The resultant company, Nextrom Photonics SA, will combine Nextrom's competencies in optical-fiber processing and handling with the newly acquired competencies in high-precision automated assembly. Nextrom Photonics and Sysmelec will share the same facilities in Gals.

Deutsche Telekom AG (Bonn, Germany) has signed a frame agreement with Ericsson SpA (Rome) to integrate IP routers based on Juniper Networks' (Sunnyvale, CA) M-series platform for its global IP backbone. Under the contract, Ericsson will deploy its AXI 580 and AXI 520 IP backbone routers to extend Deutsche Telekom's IP network. As the end-to-end solution provider, Ericsson will also provide installation, implementation, system support, spare-part management, and professional services. Implementation began last October as part of a special ad hoc contract.

ADVA Optical Networking (Munich, Germany, and Ramsey, NJ) has announced that a total of 10 new carrier and service-provider customers have implemented Siemens' metro optical-networking solutions, based on ADVA's Fiber Service Platform products, since last August. The 10 new carrier and service-provider customers are located in Australia, Belgium, central and southern Europe, Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom and include Belgacom, E-Plus, and Finnet.

Indium phosphide-based optoelectronic-component manufacturer Opto Speed (Mezzovico, Switzerland) has secured 20 million euros in its second round of funding, led by the Carlyle Group. Opto Speed will use the funds to open an office in the United States and increase its sales and marketing activity as well as expand its manufacturing plants in Germany and Switzerland. The funds will also be used to further research and develop 10- and 40-Gbit/sec optical components and monolithically integrated optoelectronic devices.

China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) has certified Luminous Networks' (Cupertino, CA) PacketWave access platform for MANs. The certification enables Luminous to ship its voice/data optical access systems to the largest telecommunications providers in China for the build-out of the country's metro networks. Network design and deployment of Luminous's equipment in China has been achieved by Photonic Bridges Inc. (Beijing), an emerging communications equipment company that worked with MII to achieve certification of Luminous's product.

Singapore-based DenseLight Semiconductors, backed by international venture capital firm 3i Group, has secured a two-year R&D project worth several million dollars to further develop its proprietary technologies in photonics and high-speed communications products. The project will focus on combining a suite of advanced technologies to deliver low-cost, high-performance products that include a wide range of indium-phosphide-based photonic gain chips, laser chips, embedded optical-channel monitors, integrated laser arrays, Raman pumps, high-speed electronics, and test and packaging solutions.

Mitsui & Co. (Tokyo), distributor of networking equipment, and Atoga Systems Inc. (Fremont, CA), developer of tunable metro DWDM systems, have entered into a strategic relationship agreement under which Mitsui & Co. will bring Atoga's Optical Application Router family of metro DWDM platforms to market in Japan. In addition to the reseller agreement, Mitsui has made a strategic investment in Atoga, further strengthening the long-term mutual commitment between the two companies.

Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ) is providing Slovenske Telekomunikacie AS (Slovak Republic) with metro optical-networking equipment for its network. Under the contract, signed in January and valued at 5.5 million euros over two years, Lucent will deliver and install its DWDM product, Metropolis Enhanced Optical Networking. The first stage of implementation began in March around the western and central part of Slovakia. A second stage will follow at the end of this year or early next year. Lucent is also providing network-management, implementation, and support services through Lucent Worldwide Services.

ECI Telecom company Lightscape Networks (Petah Tikva, Israel) has signed a contract with Zhejiang Unicom, a subsidiary of China Unicom. Per the agreement, Lightscape Networks' XDM optical platforms will be deployed in the nodes of all existing Mobile Switching Centres across Zhejiang's GSM network.