Product category:
Lasers
News Release from: JDSU
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 24 October 2005
Agility acquisition adds lasers to
network
JDS Uniphase has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Agility Communications, a leading provider of widely tunable laser solutions for the optical network.
JDS Uniphase has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Agility Communications, a leading provider of widely tunable laser solutions for the optical network The acquisition establishes JDS Uniphase's leadership in the rapidly growing market for tunable lasers and transponders, and positions the company as the broadest end-to-end agile optical network portfolio provider in the marketplace today
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 24 Oct 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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Agility Communications is privately held with approximately 90 employees and headquarters in Santa Barbara, California.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the quarter ending December 2005.
The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
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"Tunability has become a mandatory requirement and Ovum-RHK estimates the overall tunable transponder market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 50% through 2009", said Daryl Inniss, Vice President of Communication Components at Ovum-RHK, an industry research firm.
"The DWDM transponder market is a $400 million market and is expected to grow by 7% CAGR through 2009".
"We believe the shift to tunables is inevitable and that the transition will be rapid", said Mike Ricci, Vice President of JDS Uniphase's Component and Modules Group.
"Agility's single chip monolithic platform is capable of addressing the entire market and is not limited to a single form factor".
"Agility's proven architecture, coupled with JDS Uniphase's scalable manufacturing capability, paves the way for high volume, tunable, pluggable solutions".
There are several potential benefits inherent in Agility's monolithic platform.
Unlike alternative architectures, Agility offers the only proven architecture capable of fully integrating a tunable laser with a modulator via a highly scalable semiconductor wafer process.
Agility also provides the only currently accepted platform that can enable tunable 2.5Gbit/s SFP and 10Gbit/s XFP form factors.
Migration to pluggable solutions is expected to enable vendors to enjoy significant reductions in power dissipation, footprint and provisioning costs.
The platform also offers switching speeds of less than 10ms, and is less sensitive to shock and vibration than other solutions, thus enabling deployment of robust, agile optical networks.
"I believe joining JDS Uniphase will help us maximise market penetration during the transition from fixed wavelength to tunable solutions", said Ron Nelson, Agility's President and Chief Executive Officer.
"The acquisition gives us access to high-volume manufacturing capability and expanded sales channels".
"Adding Agility's tunable lasers to JDS Uniphase's family of wavelength management modules creates a one-stop shop for anyone wanting to assemble an agile optical network".
An agile optical network is an optical network that offers unparalleled reconfigurability, scalability and robustness at the optical layer.
This is intended to result in lower capital and operating expenditures while enabling next generation services.
JDS Uniphase provides the only end-to-end portfolio of solutions needed to build and operate an agile optical network, including such scalable solutions as EDFAs, ROADMs, multiwavelength switches (MWS), wavelength blockers and optical channel monitors.
On the test and measurement side, JDS Uniphase offers robust DWDM solutions, including optical spectrum analysers, optical network testers, stressed eye testers, and DWDM analysers.
The addition of tunable transponders significantly strengthens the reconfigurable aspect of JDS Uniphase's agile optical network solution.
Agility is already selling tunable transmitter and transponder products to top tier customers, including Siemens, Marconi, Mahi Networks, Tropic Networks, ECI and many others.
Many service providers have already migrated or announced plans to move to tunable solutions for agile, optical networks, including AT and T, SBC, Deutsche Telekom, and Verizon.
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