France Telecom eyes WDM-PON via SARDANA test

France Telecom confirmed at the European Conference on Optical Communications that it is involved in the ongoing Scalable Advance Ring-Based Passive Dense Access Network Architecture... wait for it... trial. The so-called SARDANA group, which also involves Tellabs, Intracom Holding and other technology researchers, is testing wavelength division multiplexing-passive optical networking (WDM-PON) technology at Tellabs facilities in Europe.

Information from the SARDANA trial will be funneled into the WDM-PON standards discussion, but France Telecom also obviously is trying to evaluate WDM-PON for its own uses, and, in the ECOC presentation, the company indicated it sees the potential for future cost savings through WDM-PON deployment. Some companies have questioned the near-term readiness of WDM-PON and the need for it, but France Telecom's endorsement and other WDM-PON technology announcements at ECOC by ZTE, Applied Optoelectronics, ADC Telecommunications and others are strengthening support for one of the most-talked-about technologies of the last year.

For more:
- read this story at Light Reading Europe

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