New York -- Light Reading (www.lightreading.com), the market-leading online community for the global communications sector, has renewed its focus on the communications networking components and modules sector with the launch of a new content track ahead of two major industry gatherings -- Mobile World Congress in Barcelona(February 24 to 27) and OFC in San Francisco (March 9 to 13).

The components track (www.lightreading.com/components.asp) will contain regular updates on the most important developments across the entire telecom sector, with a particular focus in four key areas: optical components, a major topic at the OFC show; mobile/wireless components, which will feature strongly at Mobile World Congress; communications chips; and ATCA platforms and standard servers, an increasingly important topic as communications network operators consider their cloud, datacenter, and virtualization strategies.

The components content (news, blogs, profiles, interviews, and even slideshows!) will be produced by the growing Light Reading editorial team with the help of a new contributing editor, Carolyn Mathas, who has years of experience covering this sector, and the support and advice of Heavy Reading Analyst at Large, Simon Stanley.

"The components developers, manufacturers, and suppliers are at the heart of the communications networking technology sector but are often overlooked. Light Reading, with the help of Carolyn and Simon, will ensure that the major developments and trends are uncovered, analyzed, and given the attention they deserve," says Light Reading Editor-in-Chief Ray Le Maistre, who is ordering magnifying glasses for his team so they can spot and identify even the very smallest members of the components clan.

"This industry segment and Light Reading are both in a state of transition -- what a wonderful time to join in. Doing something great? Launching the next killer technology twist? Want to give me an exclusive? I'm all ears and ready to go. See you at OFC," says Mathas.

"Components are a fundamental communications technology, acting as a foundation for all of the innovation now taking place in telecom. Light Reading used to cover the heck out of this market -- then we stopped. Why? No one knows! But now we're starting again, so hang onto your hat -- it's going to be a wild and crazy ride," says Light Reading founder and CEO Stephen Saunders.

At Mobile World Congress, Le Maistre ([email protected]) will be leading the coverage of the mobile/wireless components, after which he will join Mathas and recently appointed Light Reading West Coast Bureau Chief Mitch Wagner([email protected]) at the optical components-fest that is OFC.

Light Reading will host a party on March 10 at OFC. Contact [email protected] for an invitation.

Mathas ([email protected]) will be the lead contact for breaking stories and components sector analysis on an ongoing basis. As part of its renewed focus on components, Light Reading offers components-focused webinars. Click here to view the calendar.

Light Reading is also launching the Next-Generation Network Components – Wired, Wireless, and Virtual event on Thursday, November 6, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency in Santa Clara, Calif. Targeted at network equipment manufacturers and service providers, investors, and semiconductor suppliers, the event will highlight the key technologies for next-generation networks and the components that will deliver on them. Light Reading and Heavy Reading in cooperation with leading component vendors will provide an exclusive and intensive education in how best to take advantage of the latest component solutions for 100/400G networks, low power servers, LTE Advanced, policy and analytics, software-defined networking (SDN), and network functions virtualization (NFV).

To learn more about component webinars and Next-Generation Network Components – Wired, Wireless, and Virtual sponsorship opportunities, contact Jonathan Keller at [email protected].

Light Reading