update

Cavalier Telephone (Richmond, VA) deployed Lucent Technology’s (Murray Hill, NJ) converged Ethernet technology to enable an IPTV service offering. Also, Lucent and sales business partner Solunet (West Melbourne, FL) signed a deal with Internet service provider Great Works Internet (GWI-Biddeford, ME) to deploy Lucent’s converged Ethernet-over-SONET platform in support of demand for broadband services in Maine and New Hampshire.

Verizon Business (Basking Ridge, NJ) announced that it has surpassed 20,000 deployment miles in providing what the company deems the largest ultralong-haul (ULH) network footprint for government and enterprise customers in the U.S. The company says the achievement aligns with its strategy of coast-to-coast interconnection of the legacy ULH networks of Verizon Global Network Services and MCI (Colorado Springs, CO), set for completion by 3Q06. The ULH DWDM transport optical network supports OC-768 core capacity with transmission speeds up to 40 Gbits/sec, carrying IP, MPLS, and SONET/SDH services. The company expects to add 2,600 more miles to the network this year.

Allied Telesyn (Bothell, WA) used Teknovus’ (Petaluma, CA) Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network (GEPON) chipsets in FTTH deployments for ILECs Twin Valley Telephone (Miltonvale, KS) and SkyLine Telephone Membership Corp. (West Jefferson, NC).

Ceyx Technologies (San Diego, CA) announced that its LightSmart X100 platform passed qualifications with tier-one transceiver OEMs. Based on the company’s microdetector technology, the software-based platform provides a method for managing extinction ratio and average optical power while delivering accurate real-time performance feedback for directly modulated lasers (DMLs).

Kodeos Communications (South Plainfield, NJ), a provider of 10-Gbit/sec optical transponders and subsystems, acquired Intersymbol Communications (Champaign, IL), a developer of electronic dispersion compensation (EDC) devices.

At OFC/NFOEC 2006 (Anaheim, CA), the Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF-Fremont, CA) demonstrated the interoperability of transponders and optical components for very long reach (VR) applications using alternative modulation techniques. Member companies Azna (Wilmington, MA), Essex (Essex, UK), Kodeos Communications (South Plainfield, NJ), Opnext (Eatontown, NJ), and Vitesse (Camarillo, CA) conducted the live demonstration in conjunction with test equipment suppliers Agilent (Palo Alto, CA), Anritsu (Morgan Hill, CA), JDSU (San Jose, CA), and Tektronix (Beaverton, OR). The VR application code is based on alternative modulation techniques supporting transmission through 2400 ps/nm of residual dispersion without regeneration or in-line optical compensation. The code supports carrier requirements for longer reaches at lower costs and allows for direct upgrade of 2.5-Gbit/sec to 10-Gbit/sec VR links.

Also at OFC/NFOEC 2006, Avanex (Fremont, CA), Mitsubishi Electric (Tokyo), and Opnext (Eatontown, NJ) announced formation of a multisource agreement (MSA) to establish compatible sources of 10-Gbit/sec XFP-E (extended size) transceivers for use in high-performance optical transmission systems. The XFP-E MSA meets applicable ITU-T G.691, ITU-T G.709, Telcordia GR-253, and XFP MSA standards. MSA is finalizing the XFP-E specifications, with working samples to be made available this year.

Outsourcing its silicon wafer fabrication, Xponent Photonics (Monrovia, CA) began issuing production volumes of its planar lightwave circuits (PLCs) from Innovative Micro Technology’s (IMT-Santa Barbara, CA) MEMS fabrication facilities. IMT now produces all Xponent PLCs, microfilters, and support chips.

Novera Optics (Santa Clara, CA) received $7.4 million in funding to support ongoing development of FTTX access products and penetration into global markets. Enterprise Partners led the funding round, along with existing investors Redpoint Ventures, Octane Capital Management, KTB Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, and Saints Ventures. Novera Optics says last year it delivered more than 50,000 lines of its WDM transport technologies to Korea Telecom (KT-Seoul) for use in FTTH and FTTC applications.

Member companies of the QSFP specification group released the quad small-form-factor pluggable multisource agreement (QSFP MSA) for final review. The optical module specification defines a highly integrated 4-channel optical transceiver, which would replace four standard SFP transceiver modules. The hot-pluggable module will support Ethernet, Fibre Channel, InfiniBand, and SONET/SDH standards with different data rate options up to 4 Gbits/sec, integrating four transmit and four receive channels with a standard MPO parallel optical connector while maintaining compatibility with existing optical module interconnect infrastructure. The specification has been in development since 2004; a public draft is expected in May. Member companies of the QSFP specification group include Avago Technologies (San Jose, CA), Molex (Lisle, IL), Beam Express (Sunnyvale, CA), OCP (Woodland Hills, CA), Emcore (Somerset, NJ), Opnext (Eatontown, NJ), Emulex (Costa Mesa, CA), QLogic (Aliso Viejo, CA), Fiberxon (Santa Clara, CA), Picolight (Louisville, CO), Finisar (Sunnyvale), Primarion (Torrance, CA), Force10 Networks (Milpitas, CA), Reflex Photonics (Montreal, QC, Canada), Helix AG (Zurich), The Siemon Co. (Watertown, CT), JDSU (San Jose), Tyco Electronics (Harrisburg, PA), McDATA (Broomfield, CO), Xloom Communications (Tel Aviv, Israel), Merge Optics (Berlin), and Zarlink Semiconductor (Ottawa, ON, Canada).

Tyco Telecommunications (Morristown, NJ) completed deploying the St. Lucia and Barbados landings of the Antilles Crossing Cable System. The 940-km undersea fiber-optic system links cable stations in Viggie Beach, St. Lucia, and Needhams Point, Barbados, with one in Hamms Bay, St. Croix. Antilles Crossing (Bridgetown, Barbados), Leucadia (New York), Ectel (Castries, Saint Lucia), Barbados Light & Power (St. Michael, Barbados), and Network Research (London) aided Tyco in the deployment. The system, which aggregates data from various communication media (fixed line, microwave, cell phones, and satellite), is expected to be operational in June.

Optium (Chalfont, PA), a provider of optical transport platforms including 10-Gbit/sec transponders as well as RF-over-fiber and cable TV products, acquired Engana (Sydney, Australia), a developer of wavelength-selective switch (WSS) modules for reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) applications.

AT&T (San Antonio, TX) and BellSouth (Atlanta, GA) merged. The new entity combines the companies’ networks plus the network of now jointly owned subsidiary Cingular Wireless (Atlanta) into a single integrated wireless and wireline Internet Protocol (IP) network. Under terms of the agreement, BellSouth’s shareholders received 1.325 shares of AT&T Common Stock for each common share of BellSouth, for an exchange ratio of $37.09 per BellSouth common share based on AT&T’s closing stock price on March 3, 2006. The exchange represents a 17.9% premium over BellSouth’s closing stock price on March 3, for a total equity consideration valued at approximately $67 billion.

Bookham (San Jose, CA) acquired Avalon Photonics (Zurich), a supplier of singlemode and multimode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) chips, arrays, and subassemblies for sensing and datacom applications, for approximately 765,000 shares of Bookham Common Stock valued at approximately $5.5 million on signing, and a potential additional 348,000 share earn-out based upon Avalon achieving certain revenue and production performance criteria over a two-year period.

Following a partnership announcement in October 2005, Bay Microsystems (San Jose, CA) and Network Equipment Technologies (N.E.T.-Fremont, CA) announced that the jointly developed N.E.T. NX5010ae, a 10-Gbit/sec multiservice aggregation and switching platform, was delivered for Federal Government lab trials. The platform targets government and grid computing applications.

Experior Photonics (Newbury Park, CA) was approved by Defense Supply Center Columbus (DSCC-Columbus, OH) to provide Qualified Parts List (QPL) testing of fiber-optic termini to the MIL-PRF-29504 product specification. The approval covers specific requirements for slash-sheets 4 and 5 of the specification and includes certification to the MIL-STD-790 standard, covering general quality guidelines for components testing.

OnFiber Communications (Austin, TX) leveraged its AdaptiveBuild process to deliver a custom-built network supporting storage, IP, data, voice, and other clinical applications for Virginia Hospital Center (Arlington, VA). As part of the hospital’s critical disaster recovery infrastructure, the network securely transports data between a main facility and a hosting center across a protected OC-48 SONET ring.

2Connect Bahrain deployed LightPointe’s (San Diego, CA) FlightStrata 100 XA system as part of a metropolitan Ethernet mesh network in Bahrain’s capital city of Manama. Bolstering a proprietary infrastructure that altogether bypasses the incumbent Bahrain Telecommunications Company’s (Batelco) fiber network, 2Connect installed eight of the outdoor, point-to-point wireless links to provide local businesses with voice, data, and video communications while ensuring “five nines” network availability under the country’s often harsh environmental conditions.

In its second phase of “national backbone expansion,” Cox Communications (Atlanta, GA) upgraded its network using Juniper Networks’ (Sunnyvale, CA) T-series core routing platforms, leveraging the platforms’ MPLS and point-to-multipoint capabilities to enable nationwide delivery of data, voice, and video applications. Cox previously deployed Juniper’s M- and T-series platforms in its metro core networks.

Grande River Communications (Raymondville, TX) changed its name to VTX Communications LP. The company, a deregulated subsidiary of local exchange carrier Valley Telephone Cooperative Inc. (VTCI- Raymondville), says the change is a rebranding only and doesn’t affect existing customers, services, or management. The VTX SONET system provides communications services including dedicated fiber-optic and Internet Protocol (IP) transport to local and international users.

Tropic Networks (Ottawa, ON, Canada) signed a two-year supply agreement for Kotura’s (Monterey Park, CA) Ultra Fast Variable Optical Attenuator (VOA) arrays.

APA Cables & Networks’ (APACN-Minneapolis, MN) outside-plant (OSP) cabinets for FTTX networks were approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development (USDA RD) for use in its Rural Utilities System (RUS) loan program for funding broadband network deployment projects. To satisfy the USDA RD’s standard requirements for OSP cabinets, APACN completed the Telcordia GR-487 CORE testing procedures to assure that its Fiber Scalability Center (FSC) platform met the USDA RD’s standards for hazards including corrosion, weather, fire, earthquakes, and vandalism.

After boosting its R&D facilities, Timbercon (Portland, OR) launched a range of engineering and development services for the design and manufacture of customized fiber-optic products geared toward performance and longevity in specific applications.

World Wide Packets’ (Spokane Valley, WA) LightningEdge Carrier Ethernet platform was selected for widespread deployment in North Kansas City, MO, to enable municipal “gigabit-to-the-premise” broadband access services for homes and businesses. The city is building on its existing fiber-optic network to enable the new services, which are expected to go live this spring.

For use in the 10-Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) LAN/WAN PHY line cards of its Tera­Scale E1200 Ethernet switch/router systems, Force10 Networks (Milpitas, CA) selected the Aeluros (Mountain View, CA) Puma AEL1004 and AEL1005 10G PHY devices.

The Georgia Board of Regents (GBR) leveraged Movaz Networks’ (Atlanta, GA) RAYexpress optical DWDM and RAYtracer network management systems in an expansion of its PeachNet regional fiber-optic network designed to enable triple-play services. The network covers nearly 2,200 mi and connects Georgia’s entire university system; the multimillion-dollar contract was Movaz’s second from the GBR. Also, to increase network capacity between its campuses in southeastern Washington State and Seattle, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) implemented the Movaz RAYexpress optical add/drop multiplexer to support mixed 10-Gbit/2.5-Gbit services and a range of telecommunications and data client interfaces.

The National LambdaRail (NLR-Cypress, CA) consortium completed deployment of a nationwide optical, Ethernet, and IP network infrastructure across more than 15,000 mi of fiber-optic cable. Built to facilitate a range of research, the 10-Gbit/sec infrastructure is the result of several years and nearly $100 million in funding by NLR’s members, including U.S. universities and private sector technology companies.

T-Com (Hannover, Germany), the fixed line business unit of Deutsche Telekom, renewed existing agreements for its optical transport network with Lucent Technologies (Murray Hill, NJ). Under the two-year agreement, Lucent will continue to supply optical networking technology from its SDH and DWDM portfolio, while providing management upgrades and services support.

BT (London) concluded negotiations and signed contracts with the remaining four preferred suppliers for its 21st Century Network (21CN) network transformation program. Contracts were signed with Alcatel (Paris), Cisco (San Jose, CA), Ericsson (Stockholm), and Fujitsu (Tokyo). Alcatel and Cisco will supply metro nodes to enable routing and signaling for voice, data, and video services; Cisco will also supply large-scale routers providing high-capacity connections between metro nodes. Ericsson is to furnish the program’s “i-node domain” providing intelligence for control of services. Fujitsu will supply access technology to link BT’s existing infrastructure with the 21CN network. The announcements followed a December 23, 2005, announcement that contracts had been signed with Ciena (Linthicum, MD), Huawei (Shenzhen, China), Lucent (Murray Hill, NJ), and Siemens (Munich, Germany).

ADVA Optical Networking (Munich, Germany) supplied its Fiber Service Platform (FSP) 3000 to ensure data transport on Poland’s 4,000-km-long PIONIER optical fiber network. Owned and managed by the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PSNC) and part of the country’s Polish Optical Internet initiative, the 10-GbE research network connects supercomputer centers in the cities of Poznan, Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw, and Krakow, as well as 21 academic metropolitan area networks. Installation and maintenance duties fell to Adva’s partner Alma, a Polish systems integrator.

DataGroup (Kiev, Ukraine) launched Ethernet and SAN extension services based on Cisco Systems’ (San Jose, CA) ONS 15454 multiservice transport platform (MSTP), deployed in a 6500-km DWDM backbone network that touches all of Ukraine’s regional centers.

Datahop (London) deployed a 10-Gbit/sec fiber-optic ring network interconnecting 10 of London’s major commercial data centers while providing direct Layer 2 connectivity to three Tier-1 carriers.

Taiwan Mobile (Taipei) deployed Lucent Technology’s (Murray Hill, NJ) Metropolis Wavelength Services Manager (WSM) optical networking platform to ensure the reliability of billing and customer management systems. Separately, Japan Telecom (Tokyo) completed a field trial using Lucent’s LambdaXtreme transport system, which simultaneously supports 40-Gbit/sec and 10-Gbit/sec traffic. Supporting live traffic, the trial was conducted in the Tokyo area as part of the Japanese company’s multimedia initiative. In the trial, Lucent demonstrated interworking between its LambdaXtreme system and a high-capacity router carrying IP traffic over an OC-768 interface.

Semiconductor provider Yokogawa Electric (Tokyo) and Fujitsu Ltd. (Tokyo) agreed to jointly develop core system technologies and key components for use in ultrahigh-speed optical transmission systems.

Focusing on the Asia-Pacific region’s growing demand for GEPON access networks, Alloptic (Livermore, CA) based a wholly owned subsidiary, Alloptic Ltd., in Hong Kong. The office was initially staffed with sales and marketing people and system engineers.

Wholesale transport provider FLAG Telecom (London) signed a multimillion-dollar open tender contract to provide 2×10-Gbit/sec wavelengths to Chunghwa Telecom (Taiwan). Under the contract, on behalf of the Taiwan Academic Network (TANET), FLAG will provide full circuit connectivity on its FLAG North Asia Loop (FNAL) system to carry voice, data, and Internet traffic between Taiwan, R.O.C., and the west coast of the U.S. TANET’s traffic will be carried from its LAN to the FLAG landing station in Taiwan via Chunghwa Telecom. The companies say the demand for connectivity is being driven by rapid growth of bandwidth-intensive Internet applications in East Asia.

China’s Zibo CATV Network (Shandong) deployed Alloptic’s (Livermore, CA) Gigabit Ethernet passive optical network (GEPON) access equipment in new multidwelling units (MDUs) in Shandong.

Fujitsu Access Ltd. (Tokyo) shipped a Gigabit Ethernet passive optical networking (GEPON) system with a subscriber side platform based on OE Solutions’ (Gwangju, Korea) OBN3433F optical network unit (ONU) transceivers.

Under terms of an ongoing contract expected to exceed $20 million over the next five years, SK Group (Seoul) selected ECI Telecom’s (Petah Tikva, Israel) XDM multiservice provisioning platform (MSPP) for an expansion of the group’s long-haul DWDM backbone network.

Cameron Communications (Carlyss, LA) used ADC’s (Minneapolis, MN) OmniReach fiber distribution hubs (FDHs) in an FTTX network deployment in the Town of Grand Lake in rural southwestern Louisiana.