dwdm comes to Korea

By GRACE F. MURPHY

Dacom, the Korean international long-distance carrier, has ordered dense wavelength-division multiplexing (dwdm) equipment from Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ. Once installed in Dacom`s fiber-optic telecommunications network, it will be the first use of dwdm technology in that country.

Dacom will install Lucent`s Optical Line System in a 97-km route between Daejeon and Jeonjoo, and a 114-km route between Jeonjoo and Gongjoo. Lucent`s system uses dwdm and optical amplification to allow multiple wavelengths to be transmitted on one fiber. The system is capable of carrying 16 wavelengths (40 Gbits/sec) at a time.

John Colton, product management director for optical networking at Lucent, says Dacom is starting with four wavelengths but plans to expand the system in the future as capacity demands dictate. The network`s capacity is currently 2.5 Gbits/sec and will increase to 10 Gbits/sec when service begins in the first quarter of 1998.

Lucent`s Bill Gartner, vice president of research and development of optical networking, says that with the exception of lab evaluations, most customer applications begin using two or three wavelengths and move up from there.

End terminals will be located in central offices operated by Dacom in Daejeon and Gongjoo. Jeonjoo, which is approximately halfway between the two communities, will be established as an add/drop facility, Colton says. The leg between Daejeon and Jeonjoo will have one repeater bay in a central office, while the leg between Jeonjoo and Gongjoo will have two bays.

Dacom, which is the second-largest carrier for international and long-distance services in Korea, after Korea Telecom, is experiencing growing pains in the western part of the country, according to Lucent. The two routes, which run in northern and southern directions, are where Dacom has chosen to initially deploy the dwdm technology, according to Colton.

"They`re experiencing tremendous capacity growth needs in that area, and they view dwdm as the technology that is key to their future," he says. "They`ve decided that they`re not going to deploy additional fiber cable but rather make the most of the fiber cable that they have."

Lucent is also providing Dacom with its Integrated Transport Network Management software.

"Dacom has stated publicly that it wants vendors to meet its volume deployment needs, provide a total solution...and have a considerable amount of experience," Colton says.

Lucent recently announced Optical Line System agreements with British Telecom and the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in the People`s Republic of China. q