NEWS & BUSINESS
GigOptix raises revenue guidance by 5% to $9.8m for Q2, 2015
WDM to drive optical transport market to $15 billion by 2019
G igOptix Inc of San Jose, Ca, USA, a fabless supplier of analog semiconductor and optical communications components for fiber-optic and wireless networks, has raised its revenue guidance for second-quarter 2015 by 5%, from the $9.3- 9.5m provided on 27 April to about $9.8m, up 8% sequentially and 22% year-on-year. Continued demand in the firm’s High Speed Communications product line – primarily for its QSFP+ drivers and trans- impedance amplifiers for data-centre active optical cables and transceivers, and the linear-coherent 100G and 200G drivers for use in long-haul and metro telecom applications, as well as new business opportunities in the Industrial product line – has resulted in revamp Lebanon’s telecoms infrastructure, assuring that Internet users across the country would enjoy fibre optic connectivity by the year 2020. “Fibre optic networks will be installed in Lebanon progressively over five years and the country will be totally connected through this technology by the year 2020,” Harb said during a ceremony held at the Grand Serail and attended by Prime Minister Tammam Salam, ministers, ambassadors, and representatives of the private sector and the media. Harb said the ministry would also roll out 4G services to cover the whole country in two years, in preparation for the launch of 5G connection by the year 2020. The minister said that only 16% of Lebanon is currently covered by a 4G connection, while most
I n a recently released Optical Transport forecast report by Dell’Oro Group, wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) equipment demand is expected to drive the Optical Transport market to $15 billion by 2019. Dell’Oro’s report, with covers manufacturer revenue, average selling prices, unit shipments and Tributary/Line or Wavelength shipments (by speed up to >100 Gbps), forecast that WDM metro revenue is due to grow at a 10 percent compounded annual growth rate and that 75 percent of WDM network capacity installed across the next five years will be from 100 Gbps wavelengths. Demand for 200 Gbps wavelengths is expected to ramp in metro applications this year and is forecast to contribute nearly 25 percent of WDM metro equipment revenue by 2019.
the higher than initially forecast revenue. Based on these preliminary revenue results for second- quarter 2015, along with continued healthy margin performance and tight expense controls, GigOptix also believes that it will achieve positive GAAP net income and record non- GAAP profitability. In addition, as a result of the better than initially forecasted revenue performance for first-half 2015 (up 22% year-on-year) and the current continuous strong growth outlook for both the third quarter and the remainder of 2015, GigOptix has raised its revenue forecast for full-year of the country is still working on 2G and 3G, adding that the cost of implementing this new five year plan was not too high compared to the losses incurred by Lebanon in the absence of such an important technology. “The project will cost over $600 million but it will be fully covered by the budget of the Telecommunications Ministry and this project will attract foreign investments to Lebanon while providing new job opportunities. This is why we are urging CSOs (civil society organisations), local institutions, municipalities and the media to play a role in spreading this culture and informing people about the benefits of such a plan,” Harb said. Harb slashed the prices of communication and Internet services within weeks of replacing former Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui, reducing tariffs on local and international calls and cellular fees.
Jimmy Yu, Vice President of Optical Transport Market Research at Dell’Oro Group said “The network still needs a lot of raw bandwidth and WDM is the best equipment to deliver that. While high demand for long haul equipment will continue, the biggest growth that we are projecting is in metro applications. The majority of metro equipment purchases will still be made by telecom service providers, expanding their metro network capacity for higher speed services, but we also see a strong trend towards enterprises such as Internet content providers and financial institutions procuring and installing their own high speed 100 Gbps links. This trend is being powered by the increasing importance of data centres to a company’s core business.”
2015 by 4% (from the previously announced guidance midpoint of $37.5m) to at least $39m (up 19% on $32.9m for 2014). Lebanon gives FTTH $600m boost T elecommunications Minister Boutros Harb has unveiled a five year plan to
Boutros Harb said Lebanon would be “totally connected through this technology by the year 2020”
areas. A fibre optic network already exists in Lebanon but for the time being it only connects centres together. Head of state-owned telecoms operator Ogero, Abdel Moneim Youssef, said that Lebanon has used 15 Gb in 2007 compared to 45m Gb in 2010, 155m Gb and 310m Gb in 2014. “We still have hopes to seize the opportunity in five years to promote and enhance our connectivity as fast as possible in order not to be taken back by the great wave of data,” he concluded.
The new changes resulted in an increase in the number of landline subscribers by 120,000 over a year and a half, while the number of digital line (DSL) subscribers went up by 100,000 for the same period of time, according to Harb. These changes led to an increase in Internet penetration from 70% in 2013 to 86% in 2015”. Among the major changes implemented by Harb in the past few months is the creation of technical workshops for connecting fibre optics to more than 40 new centers in rural
ISSUE 5 | Q3 2015 8
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