FREMONT, Calif. -- Bandwidth9, a leader in flexible, reliable, and cost-effective optical components and subsystems, today announced the introduction of a breakthrough wavelength locker that guides and stabilizes optical light sources within 50 GHz ITU grid spacings. An essential component for next-generation optical networks deploying high channel capacity within metro area infrastructures, the locker is the first of its kind. Incorporating both absolute ITU grid referencing and 50 GHz ITU grid spacings, the locker gives tunable transmitters the necessary channel boundaries required within carrier-class optical equipment. Bandwidth9 has also reached a significant production milestone with the successful transition of its previously announced 100 GHz wavelength locker from its R&D labs in Fremont, Calif., to production manufacturing at the company's Systems Division manufacturing facility in Duluth, Ga. Coinciding with this event, the 100 GHz lockers have also successfully demonstrated the temperature cycling required as part of Telcordia testing requirements. Dr. Michael Jansen, Bandwidth9's senior vice president and general manager of the company's Components Division, stated, "The completion of the 50 GHz locker and the successful transition of the 100 GHz version to production provide unsurpassed integration and affordability for Bandwidth9's tunable products. The company is well positioned to meet the higher performance demands required in dynamic optical networks."Bandwidth9 Inc.