I posted the following on the JDS/Uniphase thread and after checking for clues on Alcatel's website, decided it should be here, too:
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Wednesday March 24, 6:00 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Global Crossing Ltd.
Global Crossing to Add New 2.5 Terabit-Per-Second Atlantic Cable; Huge Capacity, $500-Million Cable Will Meet Soaring Demand in Europe
- The single new cable features the world's highest undersea capacity and adds 25 times the capacity of all existing trans-Atlantic cables.
- Explosion of Internet use in Europe is expected to increase bandwidth demand on the Atlantic route at about 80 percent per year.
- Service for added cable is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2001.
- Atlantic Crossing 2 adds double-redundancy to Global Crossing's existing undersea Atlantic Crossing 1.
HAMILTON, Bermuda, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Global Crossing Ltd. (Nasdaq: GBLX - news), the owner and operator of the world's most advanced IP-based fiber optic network, today announced Atlantic Crossing 2, a new undersea fiber optic cable linking the major cities of Europe with the Americas and Asia. This single new cable, at 2.5 terabits-per-second, represents an undersea capacity increase of more than 25 times what is now available on the trans-Atlantic route -- twice the capacity of any undersea cable previously announced. Global Crossing is in the final stages of its selection of vendors to manufacture and build the new system.
Atlantic Crossing 2 (AC-2) will be integrated with the two cables of Atlantic Crossing 1 (AC-1), which are already in service. AC-2 will add a third high-capacity cable across the Atlantic for the Global Crossing Network. The new cable will cost approximately $500 million and is expected to be in service in the first quarter of 2001. To ensure added robustness for its trans-Atlantic cables, Global Crossing is planning landing sites for AC-2 that are distanced from the landing sites of AC-1. Under active consideration for the new cable are sites in the UK and Ireland for the eastern landing, and sites in the U.S. along the New England or New York State shoreline.
''With this announcement and our planned merger with Frontier Corporation in the U.S., we are moving to the highest capacity global fiber optic network in the world,'' said Robert Annunziata, chief executive officer of Global Crossing. ''Analysts forecast bandwidth demand on the Atlantic route to grow at about 80 percent per year, driven primarily by the explosion of Internet use on both sides of the Atlantic. The addition of Frontier's fiber-optic network in the United States and now the double-redundancy of our trans-Atlantic cables ensure that national telephone providers, data-centric multinational corporations, and Internet providers in the Americas and Asia have guaranteed connectivity with the major cities of Europe. By using the latest technology, we will be sure that no competitor will have a cost advantage over us.''
Growing global network
The addition of AC-2 ensures enough capacity to meet growing demand in the high traffic Atlantic corridor, and adds redundancy and reliability to the Global Crossing Network. Other Global Crossing areas of connectivity already announced include:
-- Trans-Atlantic -- connecting the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Germany (initial service in May of 1998; full ring completion in February of 1999).
-- Mid-Atlantic -- connecting the Eastern U.S. with the Caribbean.
-- Central America and the Caribbean -- connecting the Western U.S., Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.
-- Trans-Pacific -- connecting the Western United States and Japan.
-- Europe -- connecting with 24 of the top cities of Europe.
-- Japan -- connecting with the top three cities in Japan.
-- South America -- connecting the top cities of South America with the rest of the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
-- United States -- connecting 120 cities after consummation of the merger with Frontier.
''The new cable, at 2.5 terabits per second, will have more than twice the capacity of any undersea cable announced or built in the world,'' added Annunziata. ''We have three goals uppermost in our minds in going ahead with AC-2: First, Global Crossing is committed to remaining the low-cost provider in global connectivity through the use of the most advanced technology available. Second, given the rapid growth in demand among users in North America and Europe, we are determined to be able to meet capacity needs not just today but for the future. Finally, nothing is more critical to our customers than reliability and we are proud to provide them with the first double-redundant system across the Atlantic for their traffic needs.''
About Global Crossing
Global Crossing is building and operating the world's most advanced global IP-based fiber optic platform for data, voice, video and Internet transmissions. The Global Crossing Network will span four continents and address 80 percent of the world's international traffic. Global Crossing's operations are headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, with holding company headquarters in Los Angeles, and offices in New York City; Morristown, New Jersey; San Francisco; Miami; London; Amsterdam; and Buenos Aires.
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From Alcatel's website:
alcatel.com;
alcatel.com;
alcatel.com;
Now, from SDLI:
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San Jose, California, February 23, 1999-- SDL, Inc. (Nasdaq: SDLI) and Alcatel announced today that they will deliver high power 980 nm pump modules for deployment in the latest generation of undersea communications networks. The high power, high reliability, wavelength stabilized undersea pump modules are built by Alcatel Optronic Division using semiconductor laser chips made by SDL, Inc. The resulting module will allow system designers to apply dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology to undersea communications networks to meet the ever-increasing need for telecommunications and Internet traffic bandwidth.
Pump modules are a key component powering optical amplifiers used in DWDM fiber optic communication networks. High power pump modules operating in the 980 nm wavelength range offer significant system cost and performance benefits compared to components previously used in undersea networks. This new generation of pump modules introduces less noise on signals propagating through the optical amplifiers. This low noise characteristic effectively increases the available transmission bandwidth of a fiber optic network. The same characteristic can be used to increase the fiber optic span length between amplifiers, resulting in significantly lower network capital costs.
Alcatel's optical amplifiers using SDL's 980 nm pump lasers have been successfully deployed for several years in terrestrial fiber optic networks. Only recently have these devices demonstrated the exceptional reliability required for use in undersea networks. Alcatel and SDL have worked closely for more than a year to ensure that the performance and reliability of these modules meet or exceed the requirements of the latest generation of undersea fiber optic networks. The culmination of this cooperative effort was an exclusive four-year agreement between Alcatel and SDL for the supply of 980 nm laser chips for use in pump modules for underseas markets. A production ramp in the first quarter of 1999 is underway.
"Alcatel's extensive experience in the design and manufacture of submarine qualified components has been a powerful complement to SDL's world renowned high power laser chip technology," said Jean-Marie Vansteenkiste, chairman and chief executive officer of Alcatel Optoelectronic activity. "In fact, we have exceeded some of our initial performance targets with enough margin to enable additional network performance benefits. We believe we can now offer the highest level of power and reliability available in the undersea market."
The pump module design also features passive wavelength stabilization, a critical performance requirement for wide bandwidth DWDM optical amplifiers. Variations in pump wavelength can cause changes in the amplification experienced by different signal channels transmitted by an optical amplifier. Such variations can seriously degrade system performance and are, therefore, undesirable in DWDM amplifiers. SDL has optimized the laser chip and grating design to stabilize the laser wavelength and thereby maximize pump module performance. According to Donald R. Scifres, SDL's chairman and chief executive officer, "We are very encouraged that our high power grating stabilized laser appears to deliver the best combination of performance, reliability and manufacturability. The close cooperation between Alcatel and SDL for this program resulted in a combination of product performance and time to market that could not be achieved by either company alone. This partnership and contract is part of our ongoing strategy to capitalize on our technology by providing large telecommunications companies with leading edge products to boost throughput on their networks"
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Comments from 3/3/99 conference call:
"Undersea systems: largest maker qualified and signed contract. . . will expand production level. . . more testing with two more undersea [integrators]. . . laser chip and pump module. . . second half '99. . . "
Lucent's also working with Global Crossing:
lucent.com
Global Crossing Ltd. (NASDAQ: GBLX) and Lucent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: LU) today announced that they have signed an agreement that provides Global Crossing with extensive access to the most advanced technologies available from Lucent for both terrestrial and undersea fiber optic systems. The agreement also provides for financing for future systems, if Lucent is selected as contractor, under mutually acceptable terms.
The companies also said that Lucent has been awarded a contract for fiber and equipment for the Pan-European Crossing (PEC) segment of Global Crossing's planned worldwide network. As part of the contract, Lucent will provide financing for the PEC.
Lucent and Uniphase:
lucent.com
And just to complicate the matter, SDLI provides Lucent with 980 nm pumps for their fiber amplifiers:
San Jose, California, July 27, 1998-- SDL, Inc. (Nasdaq: SDLI) has received a multi-million dollar production order from Lucent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: LU) for SDL's new high power 980 nm pump module. Lucent, Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of optical networking equipment for DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) applications. SDL's 980 nm pump is used to provide optical power to the Lucent optical fiber amplifier. These fiber amplifiers provide increased optical signal levels in Lucent's DWDM fiber optic communications systems. Deliveries are expected to begin in the third quarter of 1998.
SDL Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Donald R. Scifres said, “We are very pleased that Lucent has now qualified our most advanced 980 nm pump module. This product represents the fruition of our extensive efforts to improve our laser design and to upgrade and expand our wafer manufacturing line in 1997. After thorough qualification testing by our customers in 1998, we feel this product represents the state-of-the-art in performance and reliability in the telecommunications industry.”
Lots of intrigue.
Pat |
