Lucent Technologies Announces Breakthrough In Undersea Fiber

The new fiber, called TrueWave(r) XL, represents another major breakthrough in optical fiber from Bell Labs. TrueWave XL Fiber is the industry's first commercially available large-area fiber to be specifically designed for use in undersea networks. By developing an undersea fiber that accommodates higher power levels, Lucent can help network providers, like TSSL, dramatically improve the speed and performance of their undersea networks.

Tyco Submarine Systems Ltd. will use Lucent's equipment to route data traffic in a number of undersea fiber networks that will connect cities around the world. According to TSSL, installation of Lucent's new TrueWave XL Fiber will help it increase the capacity of its worldwide undersea networks by as much as four times, providing speeds up to 10 gigabits per second over each wavelength in the fiber -- the fastest transmission speed available for high capacity DWDM trans-oceanic networks.

Unlike non-zero dispersion fibers used in long-haul terrestrial systems, TueWave XL Fiber has negative dispersion to mitigate a non-linear effect, called modulation instability, to maintain signal integrity. To minimize system costs in undersea networks, a larger effective area is used to launch more optical power into the fiber.

"The demanding conditions of the undersea environment require a fiber design that is different from terrestrial networks," said Bill Spivey, President of Lucent's Network Products Group. "Our Bell Labs scientists have developed an economical and practical fiber optic solution that will help customers, like Tyco Submarine Systems Ltd., to dramatically improve the performance and capacity of their undersea networks."

In addition to Lucent's new fiber, Tyco Submarine Systems Ltd. will manage the capacity of its network with Lucent's revolutionary bandwidth management system. Lucent's WaveStar BandWidth Manager single-handedly routes all the traffic -- voice, ATM, Internet protocol and video -- being handled by today's largest network central offices and can save carriers up to 60 percent in equipment costs alone. Designed by Bell Labs, the WaveStar BandWidth Manager will have the capacity of up to a half Terabit (500 billion bits), equivalent to more than six million simultaneous voice calls. The system is supported by Lucent's network management software system, which optimizes bandwidth while maintaining smooth network performance.

The WaveStar BandWidth Manager also features an innovative SONET/SDH ring protection capability for very long-distance undersea applications. This feature helps ensure cost-effective service reliability in the event of a trans-oceanic fiber cut.

Lucent is a worldwide leader in the manufacture of fiber for undersea networks with over a billion meters of fibers sold. Lucent said its new undersea fiber is currently in production at the company's optical fiber manufacturing facility in Atlanta, Ga.

Lucent's TrueWave XL Fiber is the third in a series of recent fiber introductions in its "Wave" family of application-specific fibers. Earlier this year, the company introduced its AllWaveTM Fiber, the industry's first optical fiber designed for metropolitan applications, like CATV and high-speed Internet access.

For terrestrial long-distance networks, Lucent unveiled its TrueWave RS (reduced slope) Fiber -- the next-generation fiber for long haul, high capacity networks. In these networks, systems costs are minimized by fiber that has positive dispersion with a low dispersion slope. TrueWave RS Fiber has the lowest dispersion slope of any commercially available fiber, which allows cost-effective transmission over the widest possible operating window. The fiber is designed to meet the particularly sensitive dispersion demands of next-generation systems that will operate at 40 Gb/s rates.

TSSL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tyco International Ltd., is the only independent, vertically integrated worldwide supplier of undersea communication systems and services. TSSL has successfully designed, manufactured and installed approximately 265,000 kilometers of undersea cable systems. Additionally, TSSL operates a fleet of eight cable ships and owns cable, repeater and transmission equipment facilities, which are all dedicated to the production of undersea optical fiber communications systems. More information about TSSL is available on its Web site at http://www.submarinesystems.com.

Lucent Technologies designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, business telephone systems and microelectronics components. Bell Labs is the research and development arm for the company. More information about Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., is available on its Web site at http://www.lucent.com.