CONTENTS
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Industry News
8 EXA’s Expansion Plans Steve Roberts 12 Compound Semiconductors Paul Momtahan 16 Battle of the Bands John Williamson 18 Altnet Convergence Matt Reese 20 Fibre for Everything Andreas Rü sseler 22 MPO Connectors Liam Taylor 24 Speeding FTTH Rollout Antony Savvas 26 800ZR/ZR+ Pluggables Eugene Park 28 EPIC CEO Interview Jean-François Vinchant 30 TOP Conference Wrap Peter Dykes
INVESTMENT, CONSOLIDATION, INNOVATION: AN INDUSTRY ON THE MOVE Welcome to the spring 2024 edition of Optical Connections. We kick off with a rare interview with an infrastructure provider in the form of EXA. The proliferation of hyperscale datacentres is now a fact of life for the fibre optic communications industry, so we spoke with the company’s SVP, Strategic Investments and Product Management Steve Roberts , about how the company is meeting the bandwidth challenge through investment and network expansion. Far from expanding however, some companies are more likely to consolidate. So argues Matt Rees , CTO, at Neos Networks. With over 100 altnets in the UK, something’s got to give, he says. Meanwhile, Infinera’s Solutions Marketing Director Paul Momtahan , argues that silicon is not the only strategic semiconductor. To meet the ever-growing volume of traffic being carried globally, veteran journalist John Williamson looks at the possibility of extending the available wavebands, as fibre gets evermore congested. Indeed, demand for fibre is coming from a number of different directions, and Andreas Rü sseler , CMO at R&M examines what the future of fibre will look like. But as governments, businesses and consumers are demanding more extensive and faster fibre- based networks, telecoms writer Antony Savvas asks how the connectivity industry is servicing these needs. Of course, networks need to run smoothly and error-free, so keeping connections free from dust and static is of vital importance, and Liam Taylor , European Business Manager, Fibre Optics, at MicroCare UK Ltd explains the best ways to do it. All this, plus the latest industry news and products, along with a busy events roundup, in another edition packed with discussion and thought-leading features. Peter Dykes Contributing Editor
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ISSUE 36 | Q1 2024
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