Ekinops has become the latest vendor to up its investment in a metro 100G optical market that looks poised to explode, having this week launched a metro 100G solution, including new transponder and muxponder modules. (See Ekinops Launches New Metro 100G Solution.)

France-based Ekinops SA already has 100G gear for long-haul applications, and last December rolled out coherent 100G line cards. Its focus traditionally has been more on alien wavelength applications, where it might have brought in the transceivers to be used with another vendor's optical filters and amplifiers or vice versa. (See Ekinops Offers Coherent 100G Cards)

However, the value proposition for the new platform, according to Ken Fisher, senior optical solutions architect at Ekinops, is to "break away from the 100G MSA [multi-source agreement] to develop our own optics for the metro space at a price point that will make it appealing. We think that there are ways to degrade optical performance just a little, but by doing that reduce cost quite a lot for metro deployment."

Fisher said the new solution's ability to cover data transmissions up to 1,000km will allow it to address "a very large portion of the available 100G metro and regional opportunities." The company also is leveraging its T-Chip transport-on-a-chip firmware upgrade capability to speed development and deployment.

Ekinops has been planning to be more aggressive about pursuing deployments in North America, though could face an uphill battle in some quarters against the likes of Ciena and Infinera. The company already has had success with 100G in Europe and other regions, and a new solution that enables it to quickly get into 100G metro deployments could help its cause. (See Datagroup Taps Ekinops for 100G Ekinops Deploys 100G in Russia)

The metro 100G market has been the target of much recent vendor activity, as Ciena in particular has suggested it's ready to take off, and recently unveiled a new metro packet optical platform to pursue convergent metro opportunities. Also, timed with Light Reading's Big Telecom Event last week, MRV announced a new metro edge platform that leverages OTN switching. In addition, 100G metro economics proved to be a hot topic in at least one BTE panel session. (See MRV Unveils OptiPacket for Metro Edge, Ciena Stirs Up the Metro Market and Dive Into the Transport SDN Debate at BTE)

— Dan O'Shea, Managing Editor, Light Reading