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CONTENTS FOREWORD
F BRESYSTEMS Contents
Formerly FibreSystems Europe Issue 07 • Spring 2015 5
12 14
16 20 24 28 33
37 News
Commscope buys TE’s networks business l JDSU prepares to do the splits l Incumbents wake up to FTTH l Super-receiver unscrambles super-channel data
Opinion: 100G and the coherent brick wall
The future never works out quite how you planned, especially in metro optical networks, writes Coriant’s Dr Maxim Kuschnerov
Analysis: Photonic integration
A European start-up claims to have found a cost- effective way to make photonic integrated circuits
Feature: Cable conundrum
Robert Roe examines the options available to cable operators wishing to upgrade their networks
Feature: Search engines of change
Internet companies are remodelling the network equipment market. Andy Extance investigates
Feature: Self-service bandwidth
Software control of the optical layer in a transport network is challenging, as Pauline Rigby discovers
Feature: The many paths to Asian fibre
The most prominent examples of FTTH deployment aren’t the most instructive, writes Benoît Felten
Product Update A round-up of some of the hottest new product releases
Preview: OFC 2015 A look ahead to some of the highlights in Los Angeles Cover: Sashkin/Andrey VP/
Shutterstock.com
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28 20 14
went to press, news broke that Apple will join the Dow Jones Industrial Average on 19 March, displacing major US telco AT&T. Te most valuable company in the world, Apple
T
jumps straight into fiſth position in the stock- weighted index while AT&T quietly exits, losing its place at number 28 out of 30 companies. ‘Wow. $AAPL (Apple) replacing $T (AT&T) in the Dow Jones Industrial. End of an era,’ tweeted Andrew Schmitt, principal analyst, carrier transport networking, Infonetics Research. Te spending power of the global Internet
companies is extraordinary. In a recent report sponsored by Google, UK consultancy Analysys Mason estimated that content and application providers, as they like to call them, spend around $30 billion annually when both direct and indirect investments are taken into account. On page 20 of this issue, we investigate the
phenomenon of the Internet giants like Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoſt, taking a hard look at how their influence is shaping the future of telecom and datacom. Teir reach goes beyond data centre and server hardware, as Internet companies are spending increasing amounts of money on optical networks. No part of the telecom value chain is unaffected
as Internet content providers have become direct customers to optical components vendors and seek to influence the products they develop. Te Internet companies are also looking to change the networking industry from a hardware-centric to a soſtware-centric model, driven by virtualisation and the cloud. Te soſtware-defined trend is discussed further
SUBSCRIPTIONS: Free registrations available to qualifying individuals. Paid subscriptions available to readers outside registration requirements. Enquiries to Europa Science, Unit 9, Clifton Court, Cambridge CB1 7BN, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1223 211170. Fax: +44 (0)1223 213385. ©2015 Europa Science Ltd. While every care has been taken in the compilation of this magazine, errors or omissions are not the responsibility of the publishers or of the editorial staff. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the publishers or editorial staff. All rights reserved. Unless specifically stated, goods or services mentioned are not formally endorsed by Europa Science Ltd, which does not guarantee or endorse or accept any liability for any goods and/or services featured in this publication. US copies: Fibre Systems is published by Europa Science Ltd and distributed in the US by DSW, 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville PA.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fibre Systems, PO Box 437, Emigsville PA 17318-0437.
on page 24, where Infinera discusses its involvement in the first commercial deployment of a transport soſtware-defined networking (SDN) enabled service for Asia Pacific wholesale service provider, Pacnet. In contrast to previous offerings, which provide control at the packet level, Pacnet’s new soſtware-enabled service automates bandwidth delivery at the optical layer. Enjoy the issue.
Pauline Rigby Editor, Fibre Systems
here couldn’t be a clearer indication of how the balance of power has shiſted in the communications industry. AsFibre Systems
Foreword End of an era
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