The Lightwave Blog

Posted by Stephen Hardy

Here are a few post-Fiber Optic Expo tidbits to tide you over until I'm back in the States and (hopefully) able to get back on a normal bio rhythm:

The PON transceiver product line from Xponent Photonics seemed a bit out of place among the fiber and other glass component products at the Hoya Communications booth. Hoya was an investor in the company and is keeping its technology alive, at least for the time being. No word on whether Hoya is hoping to find a buyer or to succeed where the original management failed...Lots of 40G on the show floor from Japanese companies, but almost all of it was in the form of modulators. Yokogawa was the only Japanese company touting a 40G transceiver. More on this and other 40G technology at FOE next week...China Telecom appears to be moving forward with GEPON deployments, with an RFP for about 60,000 lines discussed on the show floor. The problem with tracking what China Telecom is up to, said a source, is that provincial management often acts independently from central management, so programs and purchase decisions could come from almost anywhere...Both Telekom Malaysia and BSNL in India are reported to be looking at FTTH deployments. More on this next week as well...There's apparently life in the XFPe form factor. Mitsubishi introduced a fixed-wavelength device at the show and has a full C-Band, 50-GHz tunable version in development. Expect to see more XFPe talk on the show floor at OFC/NFOEC...Finally (for now), SunSea Telecommunications of China is aiming to position itself as a domestic alternative to 3M and Fujikura for Chinese carriers looking for mechanical splicers. The company expects to have a product ready by May.