iamba Networks (www.iamba.com) has teamed with a European sales representative, Scantec (www.scantec.de/us/), to advance its strategy to bring iGES (iamba GPON Eco-System), its GPON line that comprises ASICs, software, and production-ready reference designs, to system vendors and ODMs worldwide. The company introduced iGES last year. In early February the company announced the availability of the iSN1000, a family of three GPON ONT SoCs with what it asserts is the fastest throughput and lowest power, optimised for single-family unit, single-business unit, and multidwelling unit applications.
A joint bid by management and private equity will bring ownership of Brand-Rex (www.brand-rex.com) back to its roots in Scotland. In a deal worth nearly £30 million, equity firm Murray Capital has committed to the next three years’ investment plan and beyond, which the company believes will ensure it is able to continue its growth and continual-improvement manufacturing plans. As part of the acquisition, Murray Capital introduced the team to The Royal Bank of Scotland, which provided a “flexible debt solution” that provides Brand-Rex with a working capital facility to fuel sustained growth of the business.
Alcatel-Lucent (www.alcatel-lucent.com), in consortium with Elettra (www.elettralc.it; a Telecom Italia Group company specialising in survey, installation, and maintenance of submarine cable networks) says that Malta’s GO plc (www.go.com.mt) has signed a turnkey contract with the two companies to deploy a new submarine network between Malta and Italy. Named GO-1 Mediterranean Cable System, this high-speed network will provide GO with extra capacity to further enhance the delivery of its quadruple-play services to businesses and consumers. Alcatel-Lucent says it will design, manufacture, and commission the system; Elettra will design the route and perform marine surveys and installation.
Ciena Corp. (www.ciena.com) says that French carrier Neuf Cegetel (www.groupeneufcegetel.com) has deployed the CN 4200 RS FlexSelect advanced services platform to increase capacity across its backbone network in the Ile de France region in response to strong customer demand for high-bandwidth IP services. The CN 4200 RS will handle Neuf Cegetel’s service aggregation and wavelength-routing requirements, supporting video distribution, broadband aggregation, managed business services, and other applications to enable Neuf Cegetel to better serve customers in the Paris metropolitan area.
Zhone Technologies Inc. (www.zhone.com) has divested two product lines to enable it to focus on the access market. Communications Test Design Inc. (CTDI; www.ctdi.com) has acquired the AccessNode, AccessNode Express, and Universal Edge 9000 (UE9000) products. The GigaMux 50, 1600/3200, and 6400 products have been acquired by the newly reconstituted Sorrento Networks (www.sorrentonet.com). Zhone acquired the product line when it bought the original Sorrento Networks in 2004. Sorrento will assume service and support responsibilities for all existing GigaMux customers, and plans to expand its current line of edge-to-regional CWDM, DWDM, and ROADM equipment.
Aegis Lightwave (www.aegislightwave.com) says it has been granted a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office entitled “Tunable Optical Filter on a CTE-Matched Transparent Substrate” (U.S. Patent No. 7,304,799). This follows another patent issued in China in October 2007 entitled “Index Tunable Thin Film Interference Coatings” (China Patent No. ZL02812224.0). These patents cover some of the key aspects behind the device design and fabrication of dynamically tunable thin-film interference filters. The filters form the basis of Aegis’s “Active Thin-Films” technology platform, which the company is using for low-cost DWDM channel monitors in ROADM applications.
Ciena Corp. (www.ciena.com) has reached a definitive agreement to acquire privately held World Wide Packets (WWP; www.wwp.com). WWP, headquartered in Spokane Valley, WA, supplies Carrier Ethernet equipment including service aggregation switches, service concentration switches, service delivery switches (SDS), and network management tools. WWP will merge with a wholly owned subsidiary of Ciena, and all outstanding shares of WWP common and preferred stock will be exchanged for approximately US$200 million in cash and 3.4 million shares of Ciena common stock. Ciena expects to close the acquisition during its fiscal 2Q08, which ends in April.
Cisco (www.cisco.com) has announced that Shanghai’s Oriental Cable Network Co. Ltd. has selected the Cisco ONS 15454 multiservice transport platform (MSTP) and ROADM technology for its digital television optical transport platform. Oriental Cable, the world’s largest cable television city network, becomes the first network service provider in mainland China to deploy ROADM technology, say Cisco representatives. According to Cisco, the ROADM is a part of its Internet Protocol Next-Generation Network (IP NGN), which enables providers such as Oriental Cable to migrate to IP-based networks. Using IP NGN, Oriental Cable can deliver new services to end users quickly and improve its operational efficiencies and capex, claims Cisco.
Asia Netcom and Pacific Internet have launched their operational merger and unveiled strategic plans for the joint entity. Under its new name, Pacnet (www.pacnet.com), the company will go to market with a new brand. Pacnet says a key asset behind its growth is the EAC-C2C cable infrastructure, a 36,800-km submarine cable network that can carry up to 10.24 Tbit/s of capacity, of which only 240 Gbit/s is currently lit. Also on the table are plans for a new Trans-Pacific cable.
Level 3 Communications’ (www.level3.com) European Markets Group has been working collaboratively with BT Global Services (www.bt.com) to expand backbone capacity in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Under the terms of this new multiyear agreement, Level 3 will deliver wavelength services to BT within the CEE region and more broadly through Europe. The agreement enables Level 3 to further expand its fibre-based network, offering full services in the existing markets of Prague and Vienna while adding new points of presence in Budapest, Bratislava, and Ivancice.