South Korean Fiber Contract Marks Ciena's Push Into Asia.(A)(Internet & Technology)

Byline: Mike Angell

Investor's Business Daily

After taking a beating in 1998, Asia's economy is growing again. That has optical gear makers thrilled.

Analysts at RHK Inc. predict Asia's demand for telecom gear will grow 20% to $85 billion this year. Most of that money will go to older, legacy equipment. An increasing share will be spent on newer, DWDM equipment from vendors like Ciena Corp.

DWDM, or dense wave division multiplexing, increases a fiber-optic networ

k's capacity by breaking up the laser light into separate colors, each of whichcan carry voice or video.

Ciena leads rivals in bringing DWDM to Asian metropolitan networks. …