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One of the optical networking industry's most approachable tech evangelists and all-around nice guys is retiring soon. Ciena's SVP and CTO Stephen Alexander joins the Light Reading podcast for a look back and a look ahead.
Ciena's CTO, Stephen Alexander, will retire after 30 years of service in January.
In this Light Reading podcast, Alexander has an "exit interview," during which he discusses some of his career milestones, Ciena's early days and its original name ("HydraLite"), and how dramatically optical networking has changed.
Ciena's Steve Alexander (right) discusses the company's latest optical networking news at OFC 2023 with Light Reading's Phil Harvey. (Source: Ciena)
With more than 40 years working in the optical networking space, Alexander has navigated some challenging technology transitions over the years. An early one, of course, being that in Ciena's early days, creating manufacturable photonic products for the telecom industry was difficult as there was no existing manufacturing technology or contract manufacturers for erbium-doped fiber amplifiers.
Alexander recollects the technology adoption of DWDM and discusses one of the world's most under-appreciated gadgets: the universal remote. Finally, in addition to revealing his own retirement plans (spoiler: dance lessons), Alexander describes the future of the telco industry, where telcos find ways for their businesses to operate at the same velocity as the cloud.
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