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Technology Stocks : Ciena (CIEN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gary Korn who wrote (1727)	3/13/1998 10:57:00 PM
From: Gary Korn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12623

3/13/98 Comm. Today (Pg. Unavail. Online) 1998 WL 5265107 Communications Today (c) 1998 Phillips Business Information, Inc. Friday, March 13, 1998 Gemini Turns Up Trans-Atlantic System Gemini Submarine Cable System Ltd. is running live traffic over the southern portion of its trans-Atlantic fiber optic cable network, connecting Manasquan, N.J., and Porthcurno, United Kingdom. A second, redundant cable connecting Charlestown, R.I., and Oxwich Bay, United Kingdom, is due up in October. Gemini went from conception to carrying live traffic in 18 months, reported Jeremy Thompson, managing director of Gemini. "That's about half the traditional period." Alcatel's [ALA] Submarine Networks built the turnkey undersea system for Gemini--a 50/50 joint venture between Cable & Wireless [CWZ] and WorldCom [WCOM]. Each owner contributed backhaul routes on their home turf, for which Cable & Wireless enlisted Ciena [CIEN] to help out with WDM equipment. Although owned by carriers, Gemini operates as an independent entity and fits the new investor-owned model for undersea cable systems (as opposed to traditional carrier consortia), Thompson says. "Even shareholders have to buy on the commercial terms prevailing." Obviously, the two owners benefit by indirectly paying themselves for capacity on the $500 million system. Customer Benefits "Providing connectivity back to the city office is one of our differentiating aspects," Thompson says. While traditional cable systems terminate at the cable station, Gemini offers a seamless backhaul option. "It's daunting enough to become a player in the Atlantic for some smaller carriers," Thomson says, without having to come up with the backhaul from the beach to the switch. "We can take the IRU [indefeasible right of use] to where the customer has put a switch," he adds. "That hasn't been that easy in the past." The network architecture also is a plus, Thompson says. In addition to a diverse restoration path across the ocean, Gemini sports dual landing points, so it has no single point of failure. While plans initially called for 20 billion bits per second (Gbps) of capacity, the system is configured to handle 60 Gbps - 30 Gbps of traffic and 30 Gbps for in-system restoration. Two fiber pairs each carry six WDM channels of 2.5 Gbps each. "As we speak, 10 Gbps are sold," Thompson reports. Although demand is notoriously difficult to predict, he speculates that the cable will sell out in three to five years. Gemini holds its first data gathering meeting for customers March 18-19. (Mark Stewart, Gemini, 44 171 570 5700.) ---- INDEX REFERENCES ----