In Brief

Stockholm-based Lumentis says that tests by Validation AB have verified that its Mentis unamplified system can support 20 satellite nodes on a 98 km hubbed metro ring, without the use of any optical line amplifiers. This is more than twice the capacity of comparable systems and the first time such performance numbers have been obtained, it is claimed.

Alcatel has demonstrated in the laboratory what it claims is another first in optical networks: transmission of 125 DWDM channels of data at an effective rate of 40Gbit/s per channel. That represents a total capacity of 5Tbit/s over 1,500km of its TeraLight Ultra fibre.

Finisar Corp (Sunnyvale, CA), a developer of gigabit solutions, has acquired the assets of AIFOtec GmbH, Munich, Germany, for Euro2.5m. AIFOtec was established in June 2000 to develop optical subsystems for telecom applications. The purchase includes capital equipment, inventory and intellectual property. Finisar is also taking on 30 former AIFOtec employees. The transaction was completed on February 1, 2002.

Southampton Photonics has opened a speciality optical manufacturing facility at Hedge End, near Southampton, UK. The plant, which represents an investment of USD10m, occupies part of the company's new 30,000 ft2 premises and will primarily provide speciality fibre for use in its own products.

California-based Solus Micro Technologies has opened a development facility in Bracknell, UK.
The facility has a staff of five engineers who are focusing primarily on electronics integration of its Compliant MEMS (CMEMS) tunable optical components for makers of DWDM equipment.

Brasil Telecom has ordered the Fibre Service Platform (FSP) optical networking solution for storage applications from ADVA Optical Networking (Munich, Germany). ADVA's platforms, already deployed by Brasil Telecom, will address new requirements for the delivery of high bandwidth services as demanded by financial institutions.

Redfern Photonics (Sydney, Australia) and MAZ level one (Germany) have commenced a joint venture in Hamburg by investing in Adaptif Photonics GmbH. Adaptif makes high-speed, high-capacity telecoms products for optical networks aimed at system vendors, network operators, and private households.