18 June 1998: Corning Incorporated has announced that Williams Communications will deploy 400,000 kilometers of Corning“s new LEAF(TM) optical fibre as part of its effort to more than double the size…
18 June 1998: Corning Incorporated has announced that Williams Communications will deploy 400,000 kilometers of Corning“s new LEAF(TM) optical fibre as part of its effort to more than double the size of its US network by the end of 2001, to a total of 32,000 route miles. The fibre will be cabled by Siecor of Hickory, North Carolina, which is jointly owned by Corning and Siemens. Williams said it would begin installing LEAF fibre this summer to expand its network in Florida, to establish a new route in the Midwest, and to provide added service to selected markets. The installation of LEAF fibre is expected to be completed by mid-1999. According to Williams, LEAF fibre will be used for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) applications supporting numerous multimedia transmission services. The Williams network will be capable of delivering up to 80 gigabits of information per second on a single fibre. LEAF, which Corning introduced earlier this year, allows more communication channels to be transmitted over longer distances and at faster speeds than is possible using conventional optical fibre. “The selection of LEAF fibre by Williams Communications and other leading telecommunications companies has quickly established LEAF as the best-selling high-bandwidth fibre on the market,” said Corning“s president of communications John W. Loose.