Networking slowdown driving

faster components Apart from the woes of the mobile phone

companies (detailed in the last issue,

page 4), fibre-optic network companies

such as Nortel are also suffering at the

moment, induced first by the bursting of

the “dot.com” investment bubble then

aggravated by the economic downturn in

the US (and - in the case of Lucent - over-

optimism in its expansion plans).

Worst hit are suppliers of current technol-

ogy. For example, after silicon-based opto

component supplier Bookham Technologies

listed last April, its value rose to over f 50

and it increased its workforce fivefold last

year. But, since 60% of its sales were of

established mini-DIL technology to Nortel,

its share price has slumped to under f3

and it has had to cut 150 jobs as it re-

focuses on advanced DWDM components,

for which demand is still growing strongly.

These provide both increased data capaci-

ty per component and reduced size and

number of components, speeding intro-

duction of next-generation technology

(analagous to how - during the downturn

in the silicon industry through 1998 IC

manufacturers cut “capacity” equipment

spending and focused on “technology”

spending to speed the transition to small-

er lithography linewidths, in order to

shrink die size and hence cut costs).

As evidenced by the OFC conference

despite Initial Public Offerings for current

high-volume production being either

severely reduced (e.g. Lucent’s Agere) or

postponed (e.g. Conexant’s Mindspeed)

venture capital is still available to start-

ups developing 40 Gb/s components for

introduction in 2002/3 (see Issues I, p22

and 2, ~26, and this issue’s news pages).

Likewise, despite the current market, Indeed, although the US National Venture

March’s Optical Fiber Communications Capital Association says investment

conference drew a host of companies (par- dropped 31% between Q3 and Q4/2000,

ticularly venture capital start-ups) offering venture capitalists are said to pulling back

higher-speed components for DWDM. This from dot.coms and instead investing in

is being driven by two factors: manufacturing.

l demand for bandwidth is still high,

l higher-speed components allow network

providers to increase traffic and cut costs

(with the mainstream moving to IO Gb/s,

and 40 Gb/s being readied for 2002/3).

In particular, costs can be cut by (i) using

more “agile” components (e.g. MEMS-

hased tunable VCSELs, to replace multiple

edge-emitting lasers for DWDM), and (ii)

integrating functions (such as Bandwidthg’s

MEMS-based tunable filters for receivers),

which is a particular opportunity for InP.

So, this is a sign perhaps that, despite any

short-term investor doubts, there is confi-

dence in the longer-term need for more

capacity and faster and more integrated

opto components, as well as evidence of a

more sustainable approach in ensuring

that infrastructure is developed adequate-

ly to support the services that generate

the return on investment.

Mark Telford, Editor

.’ :. Sag nhnual subscription (nine issues) i ” f&G489Alf%2d&@21.9o1y30800. Price valid to end of i

~~l,~nd~inciudes airmail delivety in Europe and airspeedd : .“+Yetrewhere. : ’ ) ~A,ryt??& d tfafk?ed Elsevier plc group

.‘,j: pt%a@&paid at Rahway, NJ. Ill-v’s Review is : :,~~~~‘~~~ a year. Postmaster send all address coq

li

‘~.$@opst& Ul~V’s&view, do Elsevier Sctence Regional Sale : :.“: Qf&$~&@met Support Department, 655 Avenue of the ’

,, ,‘&rve&& &&York, NY 10010. \

..; I, ;

i +r@i$ by’< +~Colwr Print Ltd. Kettering, UK. Jcurnal~, :f&Jm&z 02076 ISSN 0961.1290

&&k&Gio~is tinufactured from ECF pulp produced , (, ho i8#mMi@ forest r&xwrces. ECF pulp is pulp bJeathei! :, ,:,~.~ atiritai chlorine

,’ 0 #OQ~.E&vfef %@nce Ltd. All rights resewed. This journal hpd $w #%fMdbial,contributions contained in it are protect-

,_ .@d w$&q ppyftght by Etsavier Science Ltd. and the follow-! : 1 ,‘, &g Wm dticonditions apply to their use:

I’;, ~~ ~~~~~~~~~ of single articles may be made for per- ‘,

: :’ xW+ lpze as @kweF by national copyright laws. Permission ‘attli@publier and payment of a fee is raqwed for all &th& ph@coQying, including multiple or systematic copy- P

.ing, Qpyiw for adwrlising or promotional purpusez, $ ,:: a@, annd atl forms of document delivery. Spectd rates are !,,

a@if&fe fer &cational institutions that wish to make :b~k@pxtpi& W nanprofit educ&onal classroom use.

@&?i_siior&may be sought directly from Else&r Scienca , ,, ‘%#ts& (rermissions Department, PO 80x 800. Oxford 0x5:

%3k, UK: td: +d4 fO11865 843830. fax: +44 (OH865 863353;&mail: permissions~ekev~r.co.~. You may also

!,

; cata@ RighzS & Permissions directly through ElsevierS : hcmw+ge (http%ww&vier.nl), selecting first

:, %~ %ppwt’, then ‘General Informatiw’. then ?@&@rwwaty Form’.

: \

” mants~ritrdugh the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. 222

’ f&sw+&iir aSnvm, MA 01923. USA; tei: 978 ,, 1 ,.~7$CE?#& fax; al 978 7504744, and in the UK through the

C.#$d$$~t Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service ‘3 ~$&#CSg, 90 @t&wham Court Road. London WlP OLP, UK.

t& +44 (0)20 7436 5931; far +44 (0)20 7436 3986. Other cpq@e$ may have a local reprographic rights agency fw ‘payn@a,

‘ : $J&@&##~ ‘- &b$cF@$ m$y tepfoducl? tables of cpntents or prepare _( lb &ttiim if&ding abstracts for internal ursufation

~%t&n &@ inrtitartons. Permission of the publisher is :, -, .ru$&@,~ res& w distribution outside the institution.

! : ,, Fern&@ 9f the publisher is required for all other dariva- t&&@&s, it&ding compilations and translations. _. ‘~~~ of usage

f i, %‘e&?&& of tire publisher is required to store or use elec-

tionica#y any matr$rial ;

contained in this journal, in&din9

no part of this pubfiration may a retnaval system or transmitt&in 5. electronic, mechanical. photo- ewise, withwt p&f written per-

armed by the Publisher for any k&y or property as a matter of prod- otherwise, or from any use M produc& instructkw.or ideas efain. Because of rapid advan- particular, tndependent urif,ca- ’

dosages shou!d be made.

terial is expected W confom to .&?usion in thts pubfkati~

oroftheclaimsmadeofit { %