FiberNet Telecom Group subsidiary Availius LLC (www.availius.com) has selected XO Communications’ (www.xo.com) nationwide network to support its Network Solutions business, which provides network connectivity and ongoing monitoring and management. XO is supplying 2.5-Gbit/sec long-haul and metro private line services and other high-speed transport services in multiple markets across the United States.
Mid-Atlantic Broadband Cooperative (MBC) has selected Infinera (www.infinera.com) for a long-haul regional network in the eastern U.S. The initial network deployment will provide network connectivity between Atlanta, GA; Charlotte, NC; Raleigh, NC; Richmond, VA; McLean, VA; and Ashburn, VA, and the greater than 700-mi regional fiber network MBC has built in rural Virginia.
The University of Arkansas has deployed ADVA Optical Networking’s (www.advaoptical.com) Fiber Service Platform (FSP) 3000RE in its Arkansas Research and Education Optical Network (AREON), which will support high-bandwidth applications like grid computing and high-definition TV (HDTV) for distance learning.
Aegis Semiconductor (www.aegislightwave.com), developer of DWDM channel monitoring equipment for ROADMs and other applications, has changed its name to Aegis Lightwave. According to company representatives, the new name better describes the full breadth of products and markets that Aegis serves and its growing presence throughout the optical telecommunications industry.
Effective December 29, 2006, Zhone Technologies Inc. (www.zhone.com) sold its iMARC products, a part of its legacy product portfolio, to Verso Technologies Inc. for $2.5 million plus additional consideration for the value of inventory remaining at the end of 6 months. The iMARC products include Frame Relay, ATM, and IP service units, in-line monitors, and branch office routers.
Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (www.huawei.com) has inked a contract with Telecom Italia to provide WDM transport equipment, making it the first Chinese telecommunication equipment supplier selected for Italian telecom programs.
Telefónica de España has selected Tyco Telecommunications(www.tycotelecom.com) to install a 145-km 10-Gbit/sec DWDM link between the Canary Islands of La Gomera and El Hierro. The subsea system will incorporate El Hierro as a national node into the existing network and reinforce the role of La Gomera as an inter-island node.
Exponential-e, a U.K. provider of tailor-made Ethernet services to the corporate market, is deploying the FSP 150 products from ADVA Optical Networking (www.advaoptical.com) into its next-generation network. The new equipment will provide Exponential-e with the Ethernet demarcation required for advanced end-to-end service monitoring and remote operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM).
Chunghwa Telecom (www.cht.com.tw/CHTFinalE/Web/) has announced that it will spend nearly $4 billion over the next 5 years to upgrade its telecommunications networks and build a new undersea cable system. The carrier has earmarked $500 million to build a transpacific undersea cable system in conjunction with Verizon and four Asian operators. Additionally, Chunghwa Telecom will spend around $1.88 billion to replace existing copper lines with fiber-optic cable to provide faster connections and support value-added services.
Chip-maker PMC-Sierra Inc. (www.pmc-sierra.com) and DASAN Networks Inc. (www.dasannetworks.com), a Korean supplier of broadband access equipment, say that Korea Telecom has selected DASAN Networks for deployment of FTTH equipment in the greater metropolitan area of Seoul, Korea. DASAN’s gigabit-per-second EPON equipment is based on PMC-Sierra’s FTTH chip set. DASAN Networks expects the number of subscribers under this deployment to reach 800,000 in the 2007 calendar year.
DASAN Networks, in turn, has awarded Fi-ra Photonics Co. Ltd., subsidiary of Ignis ASA (www.ignis.com), an FTTH component contract worth more than $4 million. The contract corresponds to the 400,000+ lines to be installed by Korea Telecom during the first 6 months of 2007. The majority of the rollout will be based on the current GEPON standard, with the remainder based on the higher bandwidth WDM-PON.BT (www.bt.com) has selected Nortel (www.nortel.com) and Siemens (www.siemens.com) as its two suppliers of Carrier Ethernet equipment for the 21st Century Network project. BT will deploy Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Routing Switch 8600 and Metro Ethernet Services Unit 1850. From Siemens, BT has selected the SURPASS hiD Ethernet carrier-class switches, element management, system integration, and support services. Both suppliers use Provider Backbone Bridging Traffic Engineering (PBB-TE) technology.
Syntune AB(www.syntune.com), developer of single-chip tunable lasers and transmitters, and CyOptics Inc.(www.cyoptics.com), developer of indium phosphide (InP) optical chip and component technologies, have announced a cooperative agreement for the introduction of a family of full-band tunable laser products. According to the companies, this agreement will accelerate the market introduction of full-band tunable lasers and also provide a continuous volume supply of tunable devices.