NEWS BUSINESS
EXFO BUYS RF TEST TECHNOLOGY FROM ABSOLUTE ANALYSIS
EXFO has acquired the majority of the assets of Absolute Analysis, including products, technology and expertise in the area of radio frequency (RF) testing for fibre-based radio access networks. The company says it paid about $8.25 million for the assets. A privately held company in
California, Absolute Analysis specialises in real-time optical RF over CPRI (Common Public Radio Interface) protocol analysis. CPRI is vital to mobile network operators in their quest to deploy next-generation centralised radio access network (C-RAN) architectures. Absolute Analysis’ products can
also help operators to identify and analyse RF interference issues in fibre to the antenna (FTTA) and distributed antenna systems (DAS). EXFO has already integrated a portion of Absolute Analysis’ technology into its recently launched OpticalRF application for its FTB-1 Pro test platform, which allows mobile operators to locate all RF interference issues in fibre-based mobile networks. ‘Mobile network operators are
transforming architectures and deploying fibre deeper into radio access networks, adding services and capacity, while preparing for 5G mobility and IoT,’ said Germain Lamonde, EXFO’s chairman, president and CEO. ‘This will strengthen EXFO’s leadership position with a unique, all-in-one optical, Ethernet and RF test solution that will improve mobile network operators’ productivity and reliability.’
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Metro and long haul fibre networks: Consolidation is the name of the game
A string of mergers in the fibre-optic space has been announced since the
autumn. On 30 November 2016, Zayo announced that it is to buy Electric Lightwave for $1.42 billion. The news came one month after CenturyLink and Level 3 agreed their $34 billion megamerger. Also in November, US service providers Windstream and EarthLink decided to merge in an all-stock deal valued at $1.1 billion, and global carrier GTT Communications agreed to buy Hibernia Networks for $590 million. Zayo Group is beefing up its West Coast US
network with its acquisition of regional fibre provider Electric Lightwave. The deal will add more than 12,000 route miles of fibre to Zayo’s footprint, which already stretches over more than 114,500 route miles. Electric Lightwave brings 8,100 route miles of long-haul fibre and 4,000 miles of metro fibre in Portland, Seattle, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Salt Lake City, Spokane and Boise, with on-net connectivity to more than 3,100 enterprise buildings and 100 data centres. The deal between CenturyLink and Level 3,
announced on 31 October, will create the second-largest domestic communications provider in the US, claim the companies. The transaction increases CenturyLink’s network by 200,000 route miles of fibre, which includes 64,000 route miles in 350 metropolitan areas and 33,000 subsea route miles connecting multiple continents. CenturyLink’s on-net buildings are expected to increase by nearly 75 per cent to about 75,000, including 10,000 buildings in Europe and Latin America. Together the companies expect to achieve one billion dollars in synergies annually, which they could invest in network improvements for customers.
Windstream and EarthLink’s deal was also
about scale, as they hope to offer an extended range of communications services to business customers. EarthLink is an old-school service provider founded in 1994 to provide dial-up broadband to consumers (a service it still offers). EarthLink expects to benefit from Windstream’s larger foothold in the enterprise market, while Windstream could profit from EarthLink’s successful launch of software-defined WAN services. Assuming the $1.1 billion deal goes through, the combined company will have an extensive national network footprint, spanning 145,000 fibre route miles. Moving beyond the US, GTT Communications
has agreed and concluded its purchase of Hibernia Networks for $590 million, mainly in cash, but with $75 million shares of GTT
The deal will add more than 12,000 route miles of fibre to Zayo’s footprint
common stock. Hibernia is owner of Hibernia Express, a transatlantic cable system designed to follow the earth’s curvature to create the shortest route. The carrier’s global fibre network, which is optimised for latency performance, comprises more than 220 points of presence in 25 countries, with unique routes for added diversity and resiliency. Commenting on the deal, Rick Calder, GTT president and CEO, said: ‘Hibernia Networks has a demonstrated track record of growth, and brings unique, strategic network assets featuring high-bandwidth and low latency connectivity.’
NeoPhotonics to sell low-speed transceiver business to APAT Optoelectronics
Components and subsystems developer NeoPhotonics has agreed to sell its access and low-speed transceiver product lines to APAT Optoelectronics of Shenzhen, China, for approximately $26.4 million (€25.3 million) inclusive of payments under a transition services agreement. The transaction is expected to close in January 2017. Assets to be sold include the
intellectual property, inventory and fixed assets for NeoPhotonics’
12 FIBRE SYSTEMS Issue 14 • Winter 2017
passive optical networking (PON) product lines, including GPON and GEPON transceiver products at data rates up to 10G, as well as telecom, bidirectional and speciality optical modules at 10G speeds and below. The deal highlights
NeoPhotonics’ increasing emphasis on advanced component designs for 100G speeds and beyond – products where it can enjoy better profit margins and greater market growth prospects.
Tim Jenks, NeoPhotonics chief executive officer, commented: ‘This transaction underscores our objective to focus our efforts on growing high-speed optical networking products and solutions based on our advanced hybrid photonic integration technology platform to meet customer demand.’ APAT Optoelectronics supplies
optical sub-assemblies for telecom and datacom to major telecom equipment manufacturers in China,
including Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, FiberHome and Huawei. The company also operates an R&D Centre in Taiwan acquired from Avago Technologies in 2014. ‘We are excited to have the
NeoPhotonics low-speed product team join APAT, and look forward to having more products to sell to our largest customers as well as the opportunity this transaction creates for us to gain many new customers,’ commented Rex Gu, founder and CEO of APAT OE.
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