With WDM, laser pulses of different colors can be simultaneously sent down the same fiber. The telecommunications industry is in a transition. Optical gear that deals in bits of light is going to replace chip-based gear. To date, silicon chips have been the basis of the network boxes that route and switch signals. Silicon is about electrons.
Fiber optics is about photons, and companies dealing with photonics are going to be big winners.
The majority are private firms not yet on the radar screens of most investors. It has the broadest optical product offerings and is now in the lead as the photonics dominator. Nortel has been snatching up other companies in its ongoing pursuit of growth. In fact, NT just grabbed Qtera, an optical networking innovator located in Boca Raton, Florida-the area known as Photon Beach. The grab of Qtera is like signing Yankee relief ace Mariano Rivera as your closer.