An article I read:
Ortel sees broadband opening
Loring Wirbel
Alhambra, Calif. - The Ortel Corp. that broke out of California
Institute of Technology in the early 1980s to commercialize
semiconductor lasers is barely recognizable today. Though the
company's continuous-wave lasers remain critical to hybrid
fiber/coax systems, Ortel is expanding its reach throughout the
broadband infrastructure, including wireless networks and
wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) fiber backbones.
May and June were months of aggressive deal-making for the
communications specialist, which racked up $57.7 million in
revenue in 1996. Qualcomm Inc. (San Diego) agreed to license
Code Division Multiple Access algorithms for use in Ortel's wireless
repeater products. And Ortel participated with several venture
firms in helping a Bellcore group split from its new SAIC Corp.
parent to form Tellium Inc., a newcomer with a mission of
developing dense WDM equipment for multi-gigabit backbones. As a
minority investor, Ortel will have rights to integrate Tellium's
WDM technology in the company's own products.
Ortel chief executive Wim Selders said that the merging of many
previously discrete broadband markets into hybrid networks allows
the company to utilize strengths across divisions. For example,
Ortel became familiar with cellular and PCS markets by providing
fiber backhaul networks for basestations and mobile switching
centers. When the company acquired the wireless-repeater business
of Avitec AB of Sweden in 1996, it already had expertise in selling
into cellular and PCS markets.
End-market diversity is critical, since particular markets have seen
slowdowns because of the uncertain status of broadband buildouts.
HFC infrastructure sales to the cable industry should have been a
sure thing, for example, but the travails of Tele-Communications
Inc. in 1996 caused many cable multiple-service operators to
postpone the introduction of fiber into their networks.
Ortel's vice president and business manager for broadband
communications, Robert Jordan, said that it is important to not
misinterpret MSOs' short-term problems in capital availability as a
long-term disinterest in broadband. Carriers of all types remain
committed to fiber buildouts, he said, and the passage of the 1996
Telecommunications Reform Act will likely hasten the eventual
move to a universal broadband infrastructure. In the meantime,
Ortel's acquisition of Avitec and licensing deal with Qualcomm will
strengthen the PCS business at a time when 1.9-GHz voice
networks are being developed nationwide.
The interesting test case for the future will come in WDM markets.
Ortel's 980-nm pump laser has become a standard for both
traditional Sonet backbones and WDM-enabled fiber systems. The
investment in Tellium does not indicate a long-term desire to
directly own a WDM system company, Selders said, but does show
that Ortel wants to find more immediate applicability for its laser
technology in WDM markets.
|
