Another wave of funding for Wave7 Optics

Fibre to the premises network equipment specialist Wave7 Optics has secured a further $6 million in funding, raising the total amount of venture capital investment in the Alpharetta, Georgia-based company to $68.5 million.

All six of Wave7 Optics' current investors, Advanced Technology Partners, Armada Venture Partners, Lucent Venture Partners, Mellon Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures and Oak Investment Partners, participated in the latest round.

Wave7 president and CEO Tom Tighe said the company expects another major injection of working capital in October, this time from an outside investor. "We have substantial cash reserves, but thought it was best for our growing business to raise this money in order to give management more freedom to focus on our industry-leading growth curve for FTTP network systems", said Tighe.

Over 30 network operators already use the company's intelligent PON (passive optical network) access system that, the company claims, is a generation ahead of comparable FTTP technologies in both cost and capability.

In addition to their Ethernet and IP expertise, the company has a significant stake in the ATM-based FTTP market sector, as illustrated by Hitachi Telecom's selection of Wave7 as a co-development partner for the Hitachi AMN1200 product family, which meets the FSAN (Full Service Access Network consortium) BPON (broadband passive optical network) specification.Wave7 Optics also recently announced new products that create a new class of service called 'advanced FTTC' (fiber to the curb), which lowers the cost and improves FTTP performance for multiple-dwelling and multiple-tenant buildings.