JDSU (San Jose, CA) announced a definitive agreement to acquire Agility Communications (Santa Barbara, CA), provider of widely tunable-laser platforms for optical networks. JDSU says the acquisition establishes its leadership in the growing market for tunable lasers and transponders, while expanding its overall optical-network portfolio. The acquisition is expected to close in the quarter ending next month.
The Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council (Spokane, WA) announced the recipients of its annual awards: President’s Award-Joey Durel, mayor of Lafayette City-Parish, LA, and president of Lafayette Utility Systems; Star Award-Mayor Graham Richard, Fort Wayne, IN; Photon Award-Patrick Sims, senior system project engineer, ADC (Minneapolis). The FTTH Council says the awards celebrate outstanding contributions from individuals who have championed FTTH technology and its resulting quality of life enhancements.
OptIPuter (San Diego), a five-year $13.5-million project funded by the National Science Foundation and designed to enable scientists who are generating massive amounts of data to interactively process data from multiple storage sites connected to optical networks, purchased a Glimmerglass (Hayward, CA) intelligent optical switch to crossconnect all singlemode-fiber connections in the project’s 10-Gbit/sec optical-network backbone, which is connected to the National LambdaRail network.
Santa Rosa Telephone Cooperative (Vernon, TX) initiated services using the Optical Solutions (Minneapolis) FiberPath 500 GPON system, in the first of several competitive FTTH deployments planned by the CLEC over the next five years. Also, Public Service Telephone (Reynolds, GA) selected the FiberPath 500 GPON system for a greenfield FTTP deployment in a subdivision in Lizella, about six miles west of Macon, GA.
Capella Photonics (San Jose), provider of wavelength-selective-switch modules for use in ROADM and optical crossconnect applications, announced the closing of $10 million in its series D financing round, led by investors Bay Partners, BCE Capital, Vanguard Ventures, and several private investors. Also, Capella and its development partner, Red-C Optical Networks(Tel Aviv, Israel), were awarded a grant of $1 million from the U.S.-Israel Bi-national Industrial Research and Development Foundation (Tel Aviv), an organization that provides funding to joint U.S./Israeli business ventures engaged in the development of non-military technologies.
Essex (Columbia, MD), Kodeos Communications (South Plainfield, NJ), and TeraSea (Rehovot, Israel) announced the formation of the 10-Gbit/sec Optical Duo-Binary, Multi-Source Working Group, with the objective of developing a common specification for extended-reach 10-Gbit/sec transponder modules. The group seeks to enable a multisource forum for service providers and OEMs, while providing a mechanism to facilitate interoperability among participants. Based on the 300-pin transponder multisource agreement, the group’s first open multisource specification is slated for release next month.
Paul Bunyan Rural Telephone Cooperative (Bemidji, MN) selected the APA Cables & Networks (APACN-Minneapolis) Fiber Scalability Center (FSC) for an FTTP deployment. Also, Atlantic Telephone Membership Corp. (ATMC-Brunswick County, NC) selected the APACNplatform for an FTTP deployment. The platform was provided to ATMC by Power & Telephone Supply (Memphis), an independent materials distributor for the telecom and cable-TV industries. Motorola (Schaumburg, IL) fiber products were also installed in the deployment.
PPL Telcom (Allentown, PA) selected the White Rock Networks (Richardson, TX) transport and multiservice optical access platform to provide backhaul capabilities to cell sites in the northeastern United States for a large national wireless carrier. PPL Telcom will deploy the company’s VLX2020 optical transport system in a multinode OC-192 core aggregation ring supporting multiple subtended OC-48 optical access rings for backhaul of TDM and Ethernet cellular traffic. The company’s VLX2006 multiservice access platform will be installed at individual cell sites on the OC-48 rings to provide fully protected Ethernet, DS-1, and DS-3 transport of wireless voice and data services.
Dow Corning (Midland, MI) absorbed its Photonics Solutions business development program into the company’s mainstream electronics business. The company says its new Light Management group is focused on helping customers develop and commercialize applications that rely on the emission, transmission, amplification, detection, modulation, and switching of light. The move is expected to increase its sales, marketing, and product development activities to support the creation of light management applications for a range of markets, including optoelectronics and telecommunications.
Tyco Telecommunications (Morristown, NJ) began undersea-network construction on the Bahamas Domestic Submarine Network (BDSNi) under terms of a multimillion-dollar turnkey contract with Bahamas Telecommunications(Nassau). The BDSNi system will link 14 Bahamian islands in a self-healing fiber-optic-ring architecture. Tyco was contracted to supply all aspects of the project, including network design, manufacturing, installation, commissioning, and testing. The high-capacity repeaterless undersea fiber-optic cable system will span more than 2,800 km and be capable of carrying up to 1.92-Tbit/sec of transmission capacity when fully upgraded. The system will be deployed in two phases, with the western half of the ring planned for initial service at the end of this year and the eastern half ready for service by the middle of next year.
Catholic Health System (CHS-Buffalo) deployed the ADVA Optical Networking (Munich, Germany) Fiber Service Platform (FSP) 2000 to support bandwidth-intensive Ethernet and storage applications. The hybrid CWDM/DWDM system is providing backbone transport for a private fiber-optic network interconnecting CHS’s 40 geographically dispersed facilities. Over the past three years, CHS teamed with Fibertech Networks (Rochester, NY) to develop a 70-mi optical network; the FSP 2000 platforms are now deployed at two data centers and one hospital along the new network, which became fully operational last July.
Vonage Networks(Edison, NJ), provider of residential broadband telephone services, upgraded its U.S. network by deploying the Force10 Networks(Milpitas, CA) TeraScale E-Series switches and routers. The platform, which combines Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and 10-GbE devices, will increase the capacity of the provider’s nationwide network, while building scalability to support year-over-year increases in VoIP calls.
Wave7 Optics (Atlanta) announced $18 million in additional funding. Existing investors, including Advanced Technology Ventures, Armada Venture Group, Lucent Venture Partners, Mellon Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures, and Oak Investment Partners, provided $15 million. The remaining $3 million came from new investor Ballast Point Ventures, a venture capital firm affiliated with Raymond James Financial.
Kotura (Monterey Park, CA), provider of silicon photonic products, raised $13 million in series 2 preferred stock financing. The financing round was led by new investor GF Private Equity Group and included the Viterbi Group, also a new investor.
To modernize its metro core infrastructure,Tricom (Santo Domingo), a carrier in the Dominican Republic, selected the Turin Networks (Petaluma, CA) Traverse multiservice transport switch platform. The company says the platform unifies high-capacity Gigabit Ethernet switching with next generation SONET/SDH crossconnect and transport functionality. TeleNetworks BroadbandISolutions (Puerto Rico), the carrier’s Caribbean partner, provided support and service in the deployment.
ATI Technologies (Toronto), developer of chips for graphics and digital video processing applications, deployed the Canon (Lake Success, NY) Canobeam DT-100, a digital-transceiver system employing free-space optics technology. The deployment is designed to expand and fortify the fiber network serving the developer’s large corporate campus.
Adelphia Communications (Greenwood Village, CO) deployed the Ciena (Linthicum, MD) optical Ethernet platforms across western New York to interconnect 106 school districts with Gigabit Ethernet services supporting a range of applications for distance learning. Platforms in the deployment include the company’s CN 4300 managed optical services switch, CN 2200 managed optical Ethernet multiplexer, and CN 2101 WaveSplicer, a passive CWDM OADM designed for outside plant locations.
SBC Communications (San Antonio) signed a contract to provide fiber-optic services to Westar Satellite Services (Cedar Hill, TX). The carrier will provide its Broadcast Video TV1 service, which provides high-speed fiber-optic connections for real time delivery of broadcast-quality video, along with its OPT-E-MAN switched Ethernet connections and PremierSERV Internet access platforms.
Teknovus (Petaluma, CA), provider of EPON chipsets for the deployment of IPTV in broadband access networks, closed its series C round of funding at $13 million. The round, which brought the company’s total funding to $33 million, was led by Focus Ventures, with participation from Infotech Ventures, Komura, and Venture Tech Alliance.
Germantown Independent Telephone(Dallas) deployed the Alcatel (Paris) 7330 ISAM FTTN broadband access platform and 5526 access management system. The ILEC is using the platform to commercially offer high-speed Internet services to its subscribers.
Holding Slovenske elektrarne and Dravske elektrarne Maribor (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Slovenia’s largest electric utility, selected the Ciena(Linthicum, MD) next generation optical multiservice switches, optical multiplexers, and network management system to interconnect locations throughout that subhead. Via the company’s Adaptive WAN technology, the network will deliver IT services used in the production and delivery of electrical energy to the utility’s customers, with support for TDM, Ethernet, and storage extension services. Ciena reseller Smart Com (Ljubljana) provided system implementation and engineering services in the deployment.
FLAG Telecom (London) chose Infinera (Sunnyvale, CA) optical networking equipment for deployment in its fiber-optic networks in major metro areas, initially in Asia and Europe. The provider deployed the company’s DTN platform in its terrestrial network to provide DWDM and intelligent digital bandwidth management in the network’s optical transport layer.
Alcatel (Paris) deployed an optical multiservice network to enable RAI Way (Turin, Italy), a business unit of RAI, the Italian national TV broadcaster, to migrate from analog TV to digital terrestrial TV. The project follows the successful implementation in Rome of a metro network based on the Alcatel 1696 Metrospan platform for video signal encoding. The company’s 1350 management suite will manage both the new and existing equipment, including SDH microwave radio systems.
Cisco Systems (San Jose) was contracted by Cable & Wireless (London) to provide the IP core element for the carrier’s next generation network. Throughout its U.K. network, the carrier deployed 15 of the Cisco’s CRS-1 carrier routing system routers as well as its MPLS-enabled infrastructure and IOS XR carrier grade Internet operating system. The carrier says the IP core element of its network will provide underlying connectivity and resilience for carrying high-capacity IP traffic across its entire network.
The China Education and Research Network (CERNET-Beijing), China’s national education and research computer network, deployed the Cisco Systems (San Jose) CRS-1 carrier routing system to upgrade its national backbone network. The company says the platform, deployed in core network nodes in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, and Nanjing, will enable CERNET to develop next generation Internet applications, while also enhancing China’s overall information infrastructure.
K-Opticom (Osaka, Japan) selected the Teknovus (Petaluma, CA) TK37xx family of EPON chipsets for exclusive use in the next phase of the provider’s EO Hikari FTTH deployment. The provider says it will employ the chipsets to offer advanced broadband services, including VoIP, as well as Japan’s first GEPON service.
Taizhou CATV (Beijing), a major service provider and cable TV operator in China, deployed a network using the FlexLight (Dallas) modular Optimate GPON platform. The platform is providing 2.5-Gbit/sec bandwidth for the operator’s existing TDM services, while enabling the introduction of metro Ethernet services. The operator is currently delivering leased line and Fast Ethernet services to the Chinese government as well as enterprise and educational customers in the Taizhou metropolitan area.