The number of new press releases on the number of new Fiber Optic advances, technology improvements and new Trans-Continental Fiber Optic Network lines are astronomical. As all of the exchange carriers are anxious to capture the largest market share, numerous projects are under development.To summarize many of the Fiber Optic new lines that will be installed over the next few years, the following page summarizes some of the expected upcoming events and networks. The timeline covers 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002.
For more Fiber press releases, we also have the following list of sites:
http://news.fiberopticsonline.com/rd-news/19990304-8095.html
http://www.broadband-guide.com/lw/
http://pennwell.shore.net/fiber/
http://pollux.teleglobe.net
www.newsbytes.com/govt/126469.html
www.freedomforum.org/technology/1998/4/14internet2.asp
1999
Qwest Macro Capacity Fiber Network
- The Qwest Macro Capacity Fiber Network, designed with the newest optical networking, will span more than 18,500 route miles in the United States when it is completed by mid-1999, and an additional 315 mile network route that will be completed by the end of the year. In addition, Qwest and KPN, the Dutch telecommunications company, have formed a venture to build and operate a high capacity European fiber optic, Internet Protocol based network that has 2,100 miles and will span 9,100 miles when it is completed in 2001. Qwest also has nearly completed a 1,400-mile network in Mexico.
Ciena Proposes Optical Network Architecture with 2 Tb/s Core
- Ciena Corporation rolled out its complete intelligent optical network architecture including a new 2 Tb/s transport platform called LightWorks at Supercomm '99 in Atlanta, from June 7-10, 1999. In conjunction with the networking blueprint, Ciena is revealing plans for Multiwave CoreStream, a new long-haul dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical transport platform that will accommodate incremental capacity upgrades up to 2 Tb/s over a single fiber pair. Each channel can be any mix of OC-12/STM-4, OC-48/STM-16 or OC-192/STM-64 optical interfaces.
- CoreStream's network management capability enables network operators to maintain and monitor all of their CoreStream elements from a single console. Software also automates system operations within each CoreStream element. Optical channels can be added without service disruption. Each optical channel features digital performance monitoring which helps a carrier meet service level agreements and troubleshoot network problems.
- New broadband optical amplifiers enable flexible bandwidth commissioning long-distance span design, and an optical add/drop multiplexer that accesses up to eight channels in the middle of DWDM spans. The initial release of the MultiWave CoreStream will be capable of 480 Gb/s of transport capacity and is expected to be commercially available in September 1999. The second release, expected to be available in mid 2000, will expand the transport capacity to 2 terabits.
- The LightWorks architecture offers to service providers integrated capabilities in optical transport, optical core switching, automated provisioning and grooming, multi-service access, and flexible survivability options. LightWorks also presents a roadmap for carriers with large and complex networks to efficiently integrate SONET/SDH, long and short-haul DWDM, ATM, and IP while preparing to deliver new services.
Bell Atlantic and Metromedia Fiber Network Reach Landmark Agreement to Facilitate Fiber Distribution in Bell Atlantic Central Offices
- Metromedia Fiber Network, Inc. and Bell Atlantic have signed an unprecedented agreement that enables Metromedia Fiber Network (MFN) to implement dark fiber connectivity within all Bell Atlantic central offices. This industry-first accord provides a fast, efficient way for competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) to enter the local telecommunications market by allowing these CLECs to utilize MFN's fiber to connect directly to Bell Atlantic's network or another CLEC's network. Under the agreement, Metromedia Fiber Network will install hundreds of 'dark fibers' in Bell Atlantic's equipment buildings (central offices or COs) but will not be required to locate the lines in a separate area known as a collocation cage or space. Dark fibers are fiber optic strands that provide virtually unlimited bandwidth for the transmission of data, video, voice and multi-media communications services.
- This innovative arrangement, jointly developed by Metromedia Fiber Network and Bell Atlantic, is a first between a regional Bell company and a fiber provider. Never before has a non-incumbent local exchange carrier been able to deploy an inventory of fiber lines in an incumbent's CO without having to lease a collocation cage or space. MFN will now be able to pull a single, high-capacity cable to a universally accessible distribution point within BellAtlantic's portion of a central office and sell the lines directly and efficiently to CLECs and other carrier customers.
- Bell Atlantic and Metromedia Fiber Network will conduct an initial trial of the service in five Bell Atlantic central offices in New York City. Upon successful completion of the trial, MFN plans to offer connections in more than 100 Bell Atlantic COs in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Boston as well as in key COs and tandem switching centers within the Boston to Washington, D.C. corridor. MFN also plans to eventually expand fiber optic infrastructure availability in other central offices in Bell Atlantic's region.
- With Metromedia Fiber Network's high fiber count optical infrastructure available in key central offices, CLECs will gain immediate, unrestricted and unmetered bandwidth connectivity in these vital communications centers, further increasing time to market and cost advantages.
- Metromedia Fiber Network is building metropolitan fiber optic infrastructure in the local loop in strategic Tier One markets, enabling technologically sophisticated organizations to implement the latest data, video, internet and multimedia applications. By offering virtually unlimited, unmetered bandwidth at a fixed cost, Metromedia Fiber Network is eliminating the bandwidth barrier and redefining the way broadband capacity is sold.
- Utilizing Metromedia Fiber Network's infrastructure, customers are able to rapidly deploy state-of-the-art optical networks. Communications carriers and ISPs gain local loop connectivity to the most highly populated metropolitan areas. Corporate and government customers benefit from private building-to-building networks featuring the fastest transmission speeds available and the highest levels of reliability and security. In addition to its current expansion in 12 major North American cities, Metromedia Fiber Network is entering the international market with fiber optic network builds in Germany, and the provision of transatlantic bandwidth capacity .
2000AT&T's High Speed Dedicated Internet Access
P.F.Net to Build Cross-Country Fiber Optic Network
- At the annual AT&T Data Networking Forum in Orlando, FL, the New York-based company said that it plans to offer two new high speed dedicated Internet access services using OC-3 (155 Mbps) and OC-12 (622 Mbps) facilities. Both services will have a 60 day provisioning guarantee. Also, the company will begin upgrading its Internet backbone to OC- 192 in the first half of 2000. Additionally, AT&T will begin to offer SONET OC-192 private line service in the fourth quarter of 1999.
- The OC-3 and OC-12 dedicated Internet access services will be supported by service level agreements for availability, performance, latency, and provisioning. Along with a 99.9% availability guarantee, 80 millisecond round trip latency guarantee, and 1% or less packet loss per month, AT&T will also guarantee—with certain geographic and other restrictions—that these high speed services will be provisioned within 60 days of a customer completing the required contractual and technical documents. AT&T's OC-3 and OC-12 dedicated Internet access services will be in controlled introduction in the fourth quarter of 1999 with general availability targeted for the first half of 2000. The 60-day provisioning guarantee will be effective when the services are made generally available.
- Backbone Upgrade- With the implementation of its OC-48 IP backbone upgrade well under way, the company will continue to expand the capacity of its IP network to OC-192. Integration of the new OC-192 links into the IP backbone will begin in the first half of 2000. AT&T will also begin to offer SONET OC-192 private line service in the fourth quarter of 1999. This private line service will be targeted to ISPs and other leading edge customers and will have the flexibility to support IP as well as other voice, video, and traditional data networking applications.
- PF.Net plans to construct a 15,000-mile fiber optic network, initially connecting Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, and Jacksonville, FL. Construction on the first phase of the network has begun, with expected completion in the first quarter of the year 2000. Newcourt Capital and SG Warburg Dillon Read have been engaged as financial advisors to arrange debt and equity financing for the project.
- PF.Net, a joint venture between PF Telecom and Koch Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries, said it intends to use its high-capacity fiber network to provide dark fiber and wholesale services to long distance carriers, competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and utility companies that deliver voice, data, and video services based on Internet Protocol (IP).
- In addition, the company has signed a three-year, $200 million agreement with Lucent Technologies to provide its TrueWave RS (Reduced Slope) fiber as the backbone for the network. PF.Net said it plans to take advantage of its unique Right of Way (ROW) agreement with its partner Koch Ventures. This agreement will enable PF.Net to use up to 57,000 miles of Rights of Way, which are wholly owned by Koch, Koch affiliates, or Koch partnerships, to provide fiber optic routes as the backbone of its service platform in major markets throughout the US over the next several years.
- Lucent also has signed agreements totaling more than US$100 million with Metromedia Fiber Network Inc. for deployment of TrueWave RS Fiber throughout the US and Europe. The contract provides Metromedia with a fiber cable solution called the AccuRibbon DuctSaver+ Cable that doubles the capacity of the TrueWave fiber packaged in Lucent's ribbon cable, while still maintaining the compact design required by Metromedia.
LMGR Increases Nortel Fiber Optic Internet Capacity2001
- Toronto-based Light Management Group Inc. (LMGR) claims it has demonstrated the ability to transmit 65,536 separate channels of light over distance in a singular optic fiber using a patented technique to acoustically manage light. This increase in optimizing capacity of existing fiber networks represents a potential increase to the current internet backbone capacity 400 times the latest Nortel Networks announcement of 160 channels per fiber May 4,1999
- The equipment laser projects full motion color digital PC output 200m to outdoor billboards. The projection device demonstrates visually the optical-acoustic channel technique to be applied in not only the telecommunications fiber industry but indeed most applications of laser operation within bio-medical, aerospace, manufacturing, and entertainment venues.
- LMGR expects to sign license agreements for the technology with several market leaders in optic transmission in the near future. It is expected that a commercial solution for interoperability with existing hardware from Cisco Systems, Nortel, and Lucent Technologies commonly used in the networks and deployed by provider companies and other major telecommunication enterprises will be available in early 2000.
Space Shuttle Tests Extra Terrestrial Fiber Optic Capabilities
- The Space Shuttle Discovery carried a fiber optic experiment on the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test (HOST) platform that was designed to determine if fiber optic communication would work in harsh space environments. In this experiment, telemetry data was transmitted via both standard copper lines and fiber optic lines the length of the shuttle. The fiber optic data was processed through an on-board laptop computer. Both types of data were downlinked to Earth for comparative analysis and evaluation. Gould Fiber Optics 1x2 and 2x2 multimode, specially connectorized couplers were used in a coupler card design that flew in the Shuttle's laptop Payload General Support Computer (PGSC).
- The primary purpose of the coupler card was to provide attenuation and signal splitting between the HOST payload (a NASA Goddard experiment), and the shuttle's PGSC computer. The PGSC housed both the coupler card and a fiber optic transceiver card. The design provided an in-line means to monitor/troubleshoot the Fiber Optics Flight Experiment (FOFE) system without disconnecting cables/harnesses. During the transmission, the shuttle purposely flew through the South Atlantic Anomaly, part of the Van Allen radiation belt, to test the effect of high levels of radiation and electromagnetic interference on data transmission.
- In future shuttle upgrades, as early as 2001, fiber optic communication lines may be used in order to reduce weight and increase internal communication capability. Fiber optic lines will simplify data and communication interfaces and allow for more efficient payload processing and testing on the ground. Additionally, optical fibers are not susceptible to electromagnetic field such as those encountered in the Van Allen radiation belt.
2002Africa ONE to Build Fiber Optic Ring Around Africa
- Africa ONE Ltd., which operates under the laws of Liberia with agency operations in New York, will develop and own the Africa ONE undersea fiber optic system to link African countries to one another and to global broadband telecommunication network. The $1.6 billion project, expected to be completed in 2002, will form a self-healing ring around Africa and will connect more than two dozen coastal-country landing points. Countries without landing points, including interior countries, will use terrestrial fiber, microwave, or satellite facilities to connect to Africa ONE.
- Lucent Technologies has been selected as the preferred equipment and software supplier for the network and will provide technical support and project resources. This arrangement has a potential value of up to $250 million to Lucent, subject to the execution of a definitive contract by the parties. Subsidiaries of Global Crossing will be awarded contracts valued in excess of $100 million to provide project management and undersea construction.
- Lucent expects to supply its WaveStar OLS 80G, a Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) system transmitting up to 40 gigabits of information per second, and approximately 39,000 km of its TrueWave undersea fiber optic cable. Lucent will provide technical support and resources for the overall design and configuration of the system.
Asia's Undersea Fiber Optic Cable Network
- Telekom Malaysia and nine leading telecommunication organizations signed a memorandum of understanding in Kunming, China, yesterday for the planning of a high capacity fiber optic submarine cable network in the Asia-Pacific region, called the Asia-Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN-2). Besides Telekom, the nine organizations involved in the project are China Telecom, Chungwa Telecom, Hong Kong Telecom, Japan Telecom, Korea Telecom, KDD Corporation, NTT Worldwide Network, Singapore Telecom and Telstra Corporation Ltd.
- Telekom said when completed in the year 2002, the APCN-2 would connect seven countries/territories namely Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Other landing points may be added in the future. The APCN-2 network is expected to lead to a multi-fold increase in telecommunications cable capacity in the Asia-Pacific region.
- APCN-2 will adopt the state-of-the-art 640 Gbits/s per fibre-optic pair and Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing technology to provide upgradable, future-proof transmission facilities that support internet and e-commerce.
- In addition, the APCN-2 will have a "self-healing ring configuration" with four fibre-optic pairs, equipping it with greater network resilience and route diversity, Telekom said. This is important for businesses that require uninterrupted telecommunication, it said. The APCN-2, with its large bandwidth and high quality transmission technology, is expected to meet the region's burgeoning growth in telecommunications traffic.
- Being interconnected with the large capacity trans-Pacific cable networks, such as China-United Sates and Japan-United States, it is also expected to provide enhanced giga-bit cable connectivity from the Asia-Pacific to the USA and beyond.
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