JDSU announced that San Jose, Calif.-based ADVA Optical Networking is the recipient of JDSU's one millionth 980 nm pump laser. Pump lasers are used to power erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, a critical optical component that regenerates weakened network signals traveling long distances over optical networks. Service providers are deploying optical networks with flexible infrastructures that can meet increasing consumer demand for the voice, video and data applications that are driving higher internet traffic levels. The latest JDSU pump laser, called the SP platform, is designed to provide high performance to network equipment manufacturers in a reliable and low cost package. The SP platform also operates up to 660 mW of optical power, or more than 4 times the power compared to the first pumps JDSU introduced over a decade ago. This drastic increase in performance is needed to support increasing bandwidth demands. "ADVA Optical Networking has one of the most flexible and scalable optical transmission platforms in the industry," said Christoph Glingener, CTO at ADVA Optical Networking. "Unlike most other system vendors, we design and manufacture our own modules, delivering leading edge performance for backhaul, metro core and long haul networks. JDSU has been a key optical components supplier to ADVA Optical Networking over the past decade and we appreciate the reliability and value that JDSU pump lasers deliver." "JDSU is shipping high-power 980 nm pump lasers at an all-time record pace, while rapidly ramping our SP platform to meet customer demands for more bandwidth," said Toby Strite, marketing director for Transport Components at JDSU. For more information, visit: www.jdsu.com