I think there's still plenty of gold in the optical sector, but you've got to know where to dig. And they complain loudly when asked to run at broadband speeds. All those folks at Level 3 Communications Inc., 360networks Inc., and Williams Communications Group will go back to their dirty old jobs, digging pipelines and laying railroad track. I recently went through my Optical Taxonomy report and added up the private investment in the companies listed. It also only counts companies in the optical Internet market, meaning those operating at optical speeds at the transport or services layer.
Optical components tell a similar story.
I didn't find any. Metro is bloated. Optical switching is swollen with optimistic entrants. And IP service switching is teeming with startups and stalwarts alike. Today's access stinks.