Industry Update

The South Georgia Governmental Services Authority (SGGSA) has selected next-generation SONET equipment from Nortel Networks (Ottawa, Ontario) for its network architecture to support a variety of education initiatives and provide advanced telecommunications services across its four-city network-in Cairo, Camilla, Moultrie, and Thomasville, GA. The SGGSA currently provides cable television and Internet access via cable-modem technology over hybrid fiber/coax systems. Deployment of Nortel's OPTera Metro 3500 next-generation SONET solution will allow businesses and educational institutions access to affordable broadband services as well as internal applications like storage, disaster recovery, content networking, and Ethernet services.

Juniper Networks (Sunnyvale, CA) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Unisphere Networks (Westford, MA), a Siemens company, in a combined $375-million cash and 36.5-million-share stock transaction. Siemens and Juniper Networks have also agreed to enter a global partnership in the field of IP infrastructure and related systems.

StockerYale (Salem, NH) will acquire Ciena's (Linthicum, MD) specialty optical-fiber (SOF) group for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock. Ciena will transfer to StockerYale all intellectual property related to proprietary SOF technology developed at Ciena and a fully developed SOF line as well as all SOF manufacturing equipment and related test and measurement assets. In addition, the companies have signed a three-year, primary-supplier agreement for SOF. Shipments are expected to begin in the fourth quarter.

Intel (Santa Clara, CA) has purchased the network tunable-laser business and technology from New Focus (San Jose, CA) in a cash transaction valued at approximately $50 million. Per the agreement, about 40 employees from New Focus will join Intel as part of the Intel communications group and will be located at Intel facilities in Newark, CA. Intel will also license technology and supply certain products to New Focus. New Focus will use these capabilities to continue supplying products to the test and measurement market segments.

Broadwing (Cincinnati) has completed a national real time video trial with CNN, the 24-hour news network. The trial demonstrated Broadwing's ability to deliver broadcast-quality video over its network, guaranteeing delivery and prioritization of mission-critical traffic. In the field trial, existing video sources from CNN news bureaus in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC were connected to the Broadwing network, encoded, and transported across the network as high-quality video streams. Broadwing used both multicast and unicast IP architectures to deliver real time video feeds to all three locations. In addition, Broadwing has selected the Tellabs (Naperville, IL) 6400 transport switch to expand its network capabilities. The transport switch will provide Broadwing with an optical grooming platform to more efficiently provision new services to customers across its nationwide all-optical switched network.

Agere Systems (Allentown, PA) and Nortel Networks (Ottawa, Ontario) have announced that four additional companies will support a multisource agreement (MSA) that establishes an industry standard for 10-Gbit/sec surface-mount optical receivers. The new member companies, Hitachi, Multiplex, Oki Electric Industry Co., and Velocium, will independently develop and market receivers that conform to the form-factor and electrical and functional characteristics defined by the MSA, originally announced by Agere and Nortel in March.

Iowa Network Services (INS-Des Moines, IA), owned by 127 rural independent Iowa telephone companies, has completed a trial of the Metro-Optix (Santa Clara, CA, and Allen, TX) CityStream multiservice provisioning platform and Next Level Communications (Rohnert Park, CA) Full Service Access Platform. The combined end-to-end ATM capabilities of Metro-Optix and Next Level are complementary solutions, efficiently lowering INS's overall service delivery costs per subscriber for high-speed video and Internet data services.

Global NAPs (Quincy, MA), a national carrier for voice and data services, has standardized on the WaveSmith Networks (Acton, MA) Distributed Node (DN) multiservice switching platform. Specifically, Global NAPs has purchased WaveSmith's DN 4100 and DN 7100 for nationwide deployment to provide all multiservice switching functions in several existing and new locations, including Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, and Reston, VA.

Charter members of the XPAK Multisource Agreement (MSA) Group have announced that specifications for the XPAK 10-Gigabit Ethernet optical module form factor are now available on the group's Website at www.xpak.org. The group also announced that Molex and Tyco Electronics have joined the MSA Group with McData, QLogic, and Spirent Communications adding support as new sponsors.

TeraConnect (Nashua, NH) and Mindspeed Technologies, the Internet infrastructure business of Conexant Systems (Newport Beach, CA) have announced that TeraConnect's 48-channel optoelectronic interconnect and Mindspeed's serializer/deserializer (Ser/Des) device have been tested and are proven for compatibility in server, router, and switch backplanes. TeraConnect characterized the backplane solution and interoperability between Mindspeed's M27211 Octal SkyRail SerDes device and TeraConnect's TeraLink-48 parallel optical interconnect modules. The characterization consisted of testing under stressed patterns of Ethernet and Fibre Channel, InfiniBand, 10-Gigabit Ethernet, and SONET data. Engineers conducted the test through 100 m of 62.5-micron optical cable, achieving a bit-error rate lower than 1x10-12 in all cases.

PacketLight Networks (San Diego) and Jedai Broadband Networks (Red Bank, NJ) have announced the successful completion of interoperability testing of Jedai's FrontRunner 3200 (FR-3200) access switch router and PacketLight's PL-16000 integrated optical transport system. The two products were rigorously tested together at Jedai's laboratories, with results showing that the FR-3200's Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) access traffic can be aggregated and transported by PL-16000. Also demonstrated successfully was interface compatibility, network synchronization for T1 traffic in an FR-3200/PL-16000 network, and data and T1 performance via the PL-16000's SONET/ DWDM and GbE connections.

Polaris Networks (San Jose, CA), manufacturer of new-generation optical transport switching systems for the metro core, and Carrier Access (Boulder, CO), manufacturer of broadband access equipment, have entered into a joint sales and marketing agreement, whereby the two companies will provide a comprehensive metro solution based on interoperability between their respective products. Polaris Networks' optical transport switch will provide transport and advanced wideband/ broadband digital crossconnect capabilities over OC-3 to OC-192. Carrier Access's new Broad Bank 7000 will provide optimized optical (OC-12) to electrical circuit (DS-1 or DS-3/EC-1) conversion and performance management. The two companies plan to enhance the solution even further through common network management.

Yafo Networks (Hanover, MD) and Agere Systems (Allentown, PA) will jointly develop 40-Gbit/sec receivers that incorporate polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) compensation and other features inside a compact, integrated module. The agreement spans product definition and development of integrated receiver modules, combining Yafo's PMD compensation technology with Agere's expertise in 40-Gbit/ sec receiver design and other optical-component technologies.

Santera Systems' (Plano, TX) flagship product, SanteraOne, has completed the Telcordia OSMINE Services integration to the TIRKS System and SWITCH System for Class 5 interfaces and functionality. The company had expected to complete the OSMINE Services integration process for the MARCH system during the second quarter.

Tropic Networks (Andover, MA) has selected the VPISystems (Holmdel, NJ) VPI Design and Deployment Center, which connects people, tools, and data with a Web-based platform and a range of software modules that contain the tools required to design, configure, plan, and deploy products and networks. Tropic Networks will use the planning software in its TropicVantage service to provide customers with a thorough understanding of optical design issues, from optical components and WDM systems to transport service and access networks.

LightPath Technologies (Albuquerque, NM) has invested an additional $1.5 million in LightChip (Salem, NH). LightChip sold shares to LightPath, Berkeley International Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures, and AT&T Ventures in this $7-million initial closing of an equity round.

Dow Corning Corp. (Midland, MI) and NeoPhotonics Corp. (Fremont, CA) have announced the formation of a strategic partnership to develop next-generation photonic crystal technology. The financial and scientific partnership will enable both companies to develop technologies that will lead to manufacturing and commercialization of photonic crystal-based optical components, serving the optics and telecommunications markets.

Picolight (Boulder, CO), developer of high-speed optoelectronic components and subsystems for the enterprise and optical metro and access networks, has successfully raised $27 million in its latest round of funding. St. Paul Venture Capital joined with Bank America Venture Partners, Charles River Ventures, and Pequot Capital-all of whom participated in previous rounds-to complete the new funding.

All Optical Networks (San Diego) has closed a $6-million Series A funding round, led by ForeFront Capital. The funding will be used to commercialize the company's MetroScout transparent optical access multiplexer.

Essex (Columbia, MD) and the University of Essex, England, have successfully deployed hyperfine WDM technology in a multimode-fiber (MMF) testbed that the university claims set a world record of 1.2-Tbit/sec throughput over 3 km of conventional graded index MMF. The university demonstrated that the hyperfine WDM filter with 6.25-GHz channel spacing transmitted OC-48 data with good eye-diagrams on 12 channels across each 100-GHz band of a 40-channel AWG on the ITU grid. The hyperfine WDM device was also used at the launch end of the university's MMF experiments without adjacent channel interference.

Marconi (London and Pittsburgh) has signed an expanded agreement with Ericsson (Stockholm) to source Marconi's broad range of DWDM next-generation optical-networking equipment, also encompassing the companies' well-established agreement on SDH equipment. Effective immediately, the new agreement will ensure integrated end-to-end optical-network solutions for Ericsson's mobile and fixed multiservice customers around the world as well as provide an evolutionary path to the intelligent DWDM networks of the future while leveraging customers' original SDH investments.

Pirelli Telecom Cables & Systems (Milan, Italy) has integrated the Minerva Networks (Santa Clara, CA) IP Television headend with its EPON Widestream product family. The Minerva IP Television headend consists of the Minerva iTVManager video services management software, Minerva VNP encoders, and Minerva MediaGateway digital video broadcast (DVB)-to-IP demultiplexers. Pirelli will leverage its global sales and support network as well as its existing relationships with power utilities and incumbent service providers to promote the combined solution worldwide.

Eblana Photonics (Dublin), newly established provider of advanced laser communications products, has announced new funding that brings its total investment to 3.6 million euros in just over one year. Eblana spun out from Trinity College Dublin, the Irish National Microelectronics Research Centre, and Enterprise Ireland, all of which are shareholders in the company. Other investments in the company come from a combination of Irish and U.S. private equity sources. ACT Venture Capital and Enterprise Ireland are providing the new funding.

Advantest (Tokyo) has terminated its nine-year distribution arrangement with Tektronix (Beaverton, OR) as of June 30, under mutual agreement and in pursuit of individual market strategies. Advantest will commence direct sales of its electronic measuring instrument products in North America through a newly formed U.S. subsidiary, Advantest America Measuring Solutions.

Ericsson (Stockholm) and Juniper Networks (Sunnyvale, CA) have announced the second phase of their IP backbone deployment with FuJian CT, a subsidiary of China Telecom Group in FuJian province. Per the contract, Ericsson will provide Packet Backbone Network equipment, including its AXI 580 IP Backbone Routers (based on Juniper Networks' M160 Internet routers) and switches from Extreme Networks. That is the second phase of a project announced last October to deploy the operator's provincial IP backbone network covering nine major cities in China's FuJian Province, including FuZhou, XiaMeng, QuanZhou, and PuTian.

Corning (Corning, NY) and Fibre Optic Cable and Accessories (FOCAL-Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) have announced that Vietnam Telecoms National Co. (VTN) will deploy Corning LEAF optical fiber in its Ho Chi Minh Highway project. LEAF fiber as well as Corning SMF-28 fiber will be installed in a hybrid network along the first 430 km of the Ho Chi Minh Highway, a major infrastructure project in Vietnam, which will span Hoa Lac-Hatay to Ho Chi Minh City when completed. Shipment was to have already begun. FOCAL, an equity company between Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications (VNPT) and Corning Cable Systems, is the cable supplier selected for this project.

Hokkaido Telecommunication Network Co. (HOTnet), a leading service provider in Sapporo, Japan, has selected the Atrica Optical Ethernet System as the foundation for its next-generation MAN. Atrica's recently announced reseller partner, Soliton Systems, K.K., will provide integration and support services for HOTnet. The provider has already completed testing of Atrica's equipment, and commercial deployment began in June.

ADVA Optical Networking (Munich, Germany, and Ramsey, NJ) has entered into an OEM distribution partnership with Hitachi, (Tokyo) to deliver metro optical-networking solutions to carriers and service providers in Japan. Per the agreement, Hitachi will market, sell, and support ADVA's Fiber Service Platform (FSP)-II/2000 product as the AMN601A, in addition to potential future product generations. The AMN601A will be integrated into Hitachi's network management system for end-user management and control.

Gas Authority of India (GAIL-New Dehli), India's leading gas company and a licensed bandwidth provider, has deployed Phase I of its nationwide backbone network using DWDM and SDH technology from Nortel Networks (Ottawa, Ontario). The first DWDM network deployment by a carrier's carrier in India, Phase I of GAIL's high-speed, high-capacity network spans more than 2,000 km and carries voice and data traffic across seven states-Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh.

The newly inaugurated SAT-3/WASC DWDM submarine-cable system, managed end-to-end by Alcatel (Paris), links Portugal to South Africa, ensuring a high-rate connection between Europe and several countries along the west coast of Africa. The system is designed to support four wavelengths at 2.5 Gbits/sec, connecting all the concerned countries on Africa's west coast, and five wavelengths at 10 Gbits/sec between Portugal and South Africa. The first connection responds to regional telecommunications needs for both voice and data, while the second implements a high-speed link between Europe and Africa.