By Corning

Corning Incorporated (NYSE: GLW) today announced the commercialization of a new ultra-low-loss, large-effective-area submarine optical fiber that addresses the needs of next-generation, high-data-rate submarine networks. Vascade® EX2000 optical fiber has a typical effective area of 112 square microns (µm2) and average attenuation of 0.162 decibel of loss per kilometer (dB/km) at 1550 nanometers (nm). This design attribute allows system designers to extend system reach and reduce the number of costly amplifiers in repeatered submarine networks.  In unrepeatered submarine networks, Vascade EX2000 fiber can accommodate higher optical launch power and increased system span length.  Corning will use this new optical fiber to develop its next-generation dispersion-managed fiber solution, Vascade® R2000 fiber, which enables 40 gigabits per second (Gb/s) and 100 Gb/s systems to reach transoceanic distances.

“Large effective area and ultra low loss are essential fiber attributes that improve system performance and bring cost-saving benefits to any system operating at very high data rates.  Today, we face the first deployment of 40 Gb/s systems in submarine networks, and we expect that Vascade R2000 fiber and Vascade EX2000 fiber will play a critical role,” said Barry Linchuck, director, worldwide marketing, Corning Optical Fiber.  “Industry trends point to the deployment of higher line rates and higher capacity.  This drives the need to develop and offer new submarine optical fibers and unique dispersion-managed optical fiber solutions.  We believe that Corning innovation is at the forefront of these developments.”

Vascade EX2000 optical fiber is fully qualified and is being sampled and tested by submarine-system vendors around the world.  Similar to all fibers in the Corning Vascade optical fiber product family, Vascade EX2000 fiber is manufactured with the most rigorous quality architecture in the industry to provide the robustness and reliability required in a harsh submarine environment.

About Corning IncorporatedCorning Incorporated (www.corning.com) is the world leader in specialty glass and ceramics. Drawing on more than 150 years of materials science and process engineering knowledge, Corning creates and makes keystone components that enable high-technology systems for consumer electronics, mobile emissions control, telecommunications and life sciences. Our products include glass substrates for LCD televisions, computer monitors and laptops; ceramic substrates and filters for mobile emission control systems; optical fiber, cable, hardware & equipment for telecommunications networks; optical biosensors for drug discovery; and other advanced optics and specialty glass solutions for a number of industries including semiconductor, aerospace, defense, astronomy and metrology.