Glen,
Congrats...looks like an excellent enterprise!
A little news/rebuttal from JDSU.....
JDS Uniphase Ready For Challenges from Start-Ups
By Ben Dummett
TORONTO (Dow Jones)--In the face of mounting competition, JDS Uniphase
Corp.
(JDSU), the big maker of components for fiber-optic networks, isn't standing
pat.
JDS Uniphase, which was created in July from the merger of JDS Fitel Inc.,
Nepean, Ont., and Uniphase Corp., San Jose, is a leading manufacturer of
dense
wave division multiplexing, or DWDM, equipment, which is used to expand the
transmission capacity of fiber-optic communications networks. Fiber-optic
networks transmit digital data using light.
However, start-ups such as Lumenon Lightwave Technology Inc. (LUMM),
Dorval,
Que., and U.K.-based Bookham Technology Ltd. are trying to win a piece of
this
fast-growing business by developing technology that fits optical circuits on
silicon chips to perform the same functions as traditional DWDM systems.
Supporters of the new technology say it costs significantly less to produce
these devices than existing DWDM technology and the devices can also be
produced in larger quantities.
Fred Leonberger, chief technology officer at JDS Uniphase, acknowledged that
his company faces increasing competition.
"A lot a people foresee opportunities (to) bring (new) approaches to the
market," Leonberger said. As well, "the desire for bandwidth and the time to
market that's being demanded by the original equipment manufacturers (for
components) has accelerated," he said.
Nonetheless, Leonberger figures JDS Uniphase is in a strong competitive
position. For one, JDS Uniphase is "investigating" wave guide devices similar
to the technology of Lumenon and Bookham to function as DWDM
multiplexers, he
told Dow Jones.
For competitive reasons, the executive declined to provide details on this
research.
However, this work underscores the company's long-standing "philosophy of
having a variety of technical solutions" for a particular function, Leonberger
said. For example, there are five ways of building an optical switch, "and I
can tell you that we are working on most of them," he said.
JDS Uniphase takes this approach because customer demands vary. "This is not
a one-size-fits-all technology," he said.
Leonberger noted that JDS Uniphase already has a proven track record at
integrating optical circuits on chips.
The company makes and sells high-speed modulators from integrated optical
circuits on chips and it also builds optical switches in polymer films on
silicon chips, both of which are components used to make fiber-optic networks,
the executive explained.
-Ben Dummett; 416-306-2024; ben.dummett@dowjones.com
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 09-10-99
02:24 PM |
