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Pirelli Announces 4x4 Bidirectional WDM System

3 June 1998

Pirelli Announces 4x4 Bidirectional WDM System That Doubles Capacity To 80 Gigabits Per Second

    COLUMBIA, S.C., June 3 -- Pirelli Cables and Systems North
America today announced that it has successfully doubled the capacity of its
bidirectional Wavelength Division Multiplexing System to 80 gigabits per
second.
    The new T31 4x4 Bidirectional Optical Line Amplifier System offers four
complete transmit and receive systems per optical fiber, which assures lower
system cost while increasing capacity. The new system is being unveiled at
SuperComm '98 in Atlanta.
    "Pirelli's 4x4 BDS system is another example of our commitment to extend
the bounds of technological development," Neal Stoker, director of marketing
for PC&SNA's Telecom Systems Division, said.
    "Our 2x2 BDS system has been effectively deployed for the past two years.
When we introduced the system, it represented the first field deployment of
dispersion compensation chirped gratings to allow longer transmission
distances over existing, standard single-mode fiber. A key benefit of the
system was an estimated savings of 300 percent versus the cost of adding fiber
to increase system capacity. The 4x4 system effectively continues Pirelli's
technology leadership and its drive to enable cost-effective higher-capacity
communications networks," he said.
    Pirelli's T-31 WDM platform is a commercially proven system. It is
designed to overcome fiber attenuation and dispersion, which limit
transmission distance and capacity. It operates with standard single-mode or
non-zero dispersion-shifted fiber.
    The T-31 system has completed Bellcore's OSMINE process.
    Pirelli Cables and Systems North America is headquartered in Columbia,
S.C. With facilities in Lexington and Abbeville, S.C., Colusa, Calif., Surrey,
British Columbia, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, and Prescott, Ontario, it
provides fiber optic cable and photonics equipment for the communications
industry and energy transmission and distribution cable for the utility and
commercial building industries.
    Pirelli Cables and Systems is a global manufacturer of communications and
power cables and systems. With 15,000 employees, 51 plants, research and
development centers in Italy, the United States, Canada, France, Great Britain
and Brazil, and total sales of more than $3.5 billion, Pirelli ranks among the
world leaders. The company is increasingly focusing its R&D and manufacturing
resources and competencies on leading edge technologies, based on optical
fibers and photonics for communications networks and superconductivity for
power transmission.