Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Osicom(FIBR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohammad Khan who wrote (7102)	6/3/1998 3:46:00 AM
From: Afaq Sarwar	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10479

Here is what Frost & Sullivan thinks about GigaMux: -------------------------------------------------------- Dense Wave Division Multiplexing in the Local Telco Infrastructure: Efficiency in the Wings March 1998 By Mike Perez As a vehicle for telephony, fiber-optics have traditionally been associated with interexchange carriers (IXCs), since fiber's historical application was the upgrade of longer telephone company (telco) infrastructure routes. Early fiber deployments allowed long-distance service carriers to carry substantially larger amounts of voice and data transmissions over greater distances than they could do with copper wire.In telephony-related applications, fiber-optic cable provides five distinct advantages over copper: Faster speed Higher bandwidth capacity Greater distance capabilities Greater resistance to electromagnetic noise Lower maintenance costs The development of wave division multiplexing (WDM) technology greatly increased this efficiency by allowing for the transmission of more than a single wavelength along the same individual fiber. Similarly, dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) generally refers to technology that allows for four or more separate wavelengths along a single fiber. Much excitement was generated during 1997, as a result of the continued deployments of DWDM equipment by national carriers such as MCI, Sprint, and Qwest. Breakthroughs in DWDM research have consistently increased the number of available wavelengths from 4 up to 32, with even greater numbers expected in the near future. The implementation and use of DWDM is a relatively new phenomenon, since most DWDM components were not available until 1995. Furthermore, because of higher costs, DWDM has primarily been used in longer-haul systems; thus, its impact on telco fiber-in-the-loop (FITL) is still relatively minimal. However, the market for DWDM continues its march toward short-haul systems, where it promises to bring its capacity-enhancing magic to more locally oriented telcos. Not surprisingly, few people are aware that fiber has been deployed extensively at the local level for several years by many local exchange carriers (LECs), and particularly by the regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs) and competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs). You can be sure that these companies are quietly monitoring the potential of DWDM for use in shorter-haul systems. In late 1997, Osicom Technologies announced that Brooks Fiber Properties (a CLEC which has been recently acquired by WorldCom) had commenced trials of Osicom's GigaMux DWDM in its National Data Systems Test Lab and Research Facility in Stockton, California. Of special interest is the fact that Osicom's GigaMux line of DWDM is directed specifically to metropolitan service providers looking to increase their fiber carrying capacity in order to serve the increasing demand for more bandwidth. Traffic types supported by the GigaMux line include Switched Gigabit Ethernet, Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Enterprise Systems Connection (ESCON), Optical Carrier level 1 (OC-1) through OC-48, Synchronous Optical Network (SONET), Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Frame Relay, and even proprietary digital signals as part of its total data format transparent operation. But the most intriguing aspect of DWDM in shorter-haul routes is the sheer size of the potential market. Figure 1 illustrates the amount of fiber deployed by the Bell companies through 1996 (from the FCC's Fiber Deployment Update, End of Year 1996). As illustrated, the combined deployments of the Bell companies and GTE have resulted in more than 11 million miles of fiber throughout the major LEC infrastructure. Figure 1 Miles of Fiber Deployed by Local Operating Companies 1996 Company Fiber Miles (000) Ameritech 1,339.3 Bell Atlantic 2,403.5 BellSouth 2,012.0 GTE 1,064.9 NYNEX 1,422.5 Pacific Telesis 540.4 SBC 1,504.4 US West 1,615.3 TOTAL 11,902.3 Note: All figures are rounded. Source: Frost & Sullivan In addition, according to Frost & Sullivan's report on FITL equipment markets (Report #ÿ5420-60), 5.6 million fiber-kilometers (f-km) are forecast to be shipped for telco FITL use in the year 2003. This should result in $874.2 million in revenues from the sales of fiber cable alone. These projections assume that the RBOCs will continue to deploy fiber in the subscriber loop at a consistent rate in order to upgrade their networks for full, broadband service capabilities. Furthermore, the compound annual growth (CAGR) for telco FITL cable revenues is projected to be 13 percent from 1996 through 2003, illustrating the consistent growth anticipated for this industry well into the next century. In summary, DWDM has elicited considerable excitement as a result of its ability to increase the efficiency of national fiber telephony and Internet backbones. However, its potential in shorter fiber routes remains relatively untapped and unheralded. While new copper-enhancing technologies such as high data rate digital subscriber line (HDSL) and asynchronous digital subscriber line (ADSL) are currently in the local infrastructure spotlight, DWDM for use in shorter routes looms just around the corner, patiently waiting to unlock the vast potential of the extensive fiber already deployed by the LECs. Request further information on the following related reports: Frost & Sullivan's Report #ÿ5420-60, U.S. Fiber-in-the-Loop Equipment Market, and Report #ÿ5270-60, World Fiber-Optic Telecommunications Equipment Markets. -------------------------------------------------------- Afaq Sarwar