Lucent Cutting, Nortel Improving
A mixed bag in optical-networking business news. Nortel Networks said its revenues would be in line with previously stated expectations, and that it is in the process of positioning itself around its four key businesses to drive a break-even model -- not including costs related to acquisitions and any special charges and gains -- at quarterly revenues of below $2.4 billion.

Lucent, meantime, said it is cutting 10,000 jobs and taking a $4 billion charge as it sees waning sales. (more)

Level 3 Close to Genuity Deal
With a creditors' deadline looming, Genuity, a debt-saddled Internet services firm, is shopping assets to Level 3 Communications. An announcement could come at any time. (more)

Nortel Selling Some Optical Assets
Nortel Networks said it will sell certain assets relating to its optical-components business to Bookham Technology plc in a deal valued at $108 million. (more)

Optical Comm. Products Buys VCSEL Firm Cielo
Optical Communication Products Inc., a manufacturer of fiber optic subsystems and modules for metropolitan and high-speed premises networks, said it has acquired certain assets of privately-held Cielo Communications, a researcher and developer of VCSEL technology for fiber optic communication networks. (more)

Cisco Lends a Hand to China, Middle East Broadband
The network equipment maker tapped for an IP backbone project in North China and helps Bahrain's e-government broadband initiative in the Persian Gulf. (more)

Corvis Forms Government Solutions Division
The Maryland optical networking firm aims to tap largest bandwidth user in the world. (more)

Product News

Fujitsu Rolls Out New FlashWave
Fujitsu Network Communications Inc. announced the latest release of the FLASHWAVE 7700 ultra long haul Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) platform. The FLASHWAVE 7700 platform is now capable of transmitting 40 full-duplex 10 Gbps channels 2000 kilometers without regeneration. This 33% distance increase further reduces the cost per bit of optical transport by augmenting the previous FLASHWAVE 7700 releases, which offered ultra high capacity (1.76 Tbps at 600 km) and extended long haul (800 Gbps at 1500 km).

Completely interoperable with previous releases, the FLASHWAVE 7700 platform allows for simple network growth for the embedded DWDM base. By employing this single platform, carriers can greatly reduce both network complexity and sparing costs with the capability to select per section of the network from the numerous 'bandwidth to distance' options that best fit the required span.

The latest release of the FLASHWAVE 7700 platform incorporates the same total cost of ownership advantages, including a small footprint and low power consumption (3.52 watts per gigabit) to reduce the operation overhead and maximize return on investment. Additionally, the only commercially available tunable lasers reduce the carrier's sparing cost by greater than 80 percent and allow the entire system to transport revenue-generating traffic.

Artel Intros DigiLink Monitor
Artel Video Systems, a provider of video transport solutions to the cable television, satellite and telecommunication industries, announced the availability of DigiLink Monitor. DigiLink Monitor is offered as an option on all DigiLink products and allows any of Artel's DigiLink products to be integrated into industry-standard network management systems.

With DigiLink Monitor's SNMP trap and GET polling functionality, popular network management systems such as HP OpenView are able to gather and display real-time status and alarm information from the various DigiLink network elements. First customer shipments of DigiLink Monitor are slated for Q4 2002 with an MSRP of $500.00 per circuit.

DigiLink Monitor provides real-time stamping of events and alarms and allows DigiLink products to be connected to network management systems via a 10BaseT Ethernet connection. From remote locations, system operators can be alerted to device alarm conditions as well as monitor operating conditions such as the type of laser being used, optical receiver input power, and the presence of video signals. For configuring device-specific data such as IP addresses and SNMP community names, DigiLink Monitor also provides a Windows-based configuration GUI to simplify configuring devices for use within managed networks.

Other News

KVH Gains Optical Patent
KVH Industries has been awarded a patent for a technology that enables the company to produce highly accurate, attitude, heading, and reference (AHRS)-grade fiber optic gyros (FOGs) at a fraction of the cost of competing products.

U.S. Patent #6,429,939, "DSP Signal Processing for Open Loop Fiber Optic Sensors," addresses KVH's method of using the power of modern digital electronics to improve the performance of the company's FOGs and make them suitable for a wide range of new applications ranging from precision-guided munitions to tactical navigation systems.

DSP-based gyros, such as the DSP-5000, which was introduced by KVH in April 2002, combine KVH's proprietary polarization-maintaining optical fiber and fiber components with integrated digital signal processing. The result is a low-cost rate gyro with outstanding bias stability, low noise, high bandwidth, and scale factor accuracy of 0.05 percent. Like KVH's existing line of E-Core FOGs, the DSP-5000 is a highly reliable system with no moving parts to wear out or require maintenance. However, its integrated DSP capabilities allow it to accept data input as fast as 500 degrees per second, offer consistent accuracy over time and temperature, and provide extremely precise rotational rate information. This rate information is then output in a digital data stream to a variety of external systems.

Axcel Photonics Achieves Milestone
Axcel Photonics Inc., a developer of InGaAs based active optical components, said it has achieved a major milestone in single mode laser chip performance. Axcel now offers 300 mW of kink-free single-mode output power at 915 nm or 940 nm. The devices incorporate Axcel's proprietary facet technology, which allows for operation at very high output powers and without the risk of Catastrophic Optical Damage (COD).

Axcel said it is already is well known for its single mode 980 nm diode used to optically pump EDFAs (erbium-doped fiber-amplifiers).

Axcel's 915 nm or 940 nm single-mode laser is being offered in several customer-friendly configurations:

• Unmounted laser chips
• Laser chips mounted on standard D-Block open-heatsinks or custom heatsinks for product development
• Telecom-standard 14-PIN butterfly fiber-coupled package
• Coolerless mini-DIL or mini-BUTTERFLY fiber-coupled packages

Touch America's Fiber-Optic Network Expands Internap's National Footprint
Touch America, a national fiber-optic network and services company, said it is providing broadband transport to Internap Network Services Corporation, a leading provider of intelligent routing services over the Internet. Touch America's private line services allow Internap to expand its presence to more than a dozen additional cities.