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January - February - March - April - May - June
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(For press Releases from 1999 - CLICK HERE)

Patchcords available with duplex MT-RJ connectors

OPTRONICS EYT, of Greece is a specialized company in optoelectronics and fiber optics that follows the growth of networking market by offering patchcords with the new duplex MT-RJ connectors.

The new small form connectors allow for 100% increase in passive network capacity since each one accommodates two optical fibers for the space of the traditional one SC type connector.

The new connector is user friendly since is similar in latching with the RJ-45 cooper connectors allowing network administrators to feel comfortable with existing forms they know very well from cooper cables and outlets.

MT-RJ connector specifications remain comparable with other fiber optic connectors with insertion loss <0.3 dB, return loss 25dB (and up to 40dB for super polished ones) while the plastic material allows for excellent operation from -25 to +70 degrees Celsius.

The patchcords available from OPTRONICS combine MT-RJ connectors with ST, SC or any other type of connector asked and for both multimode and singlemode optical fiber and comes in duplex mini zip type of cables.

OPTRONICS EYT , is an ISO 9001 certified company for design, development and production of optoelectronics devices, pigtails and patchcords.

For more information contact OPTRONICS EYT, 222 EL. VENIZELOU STR, 175 63 P. FALIRO,  tel. +30-1-9837121, 9886041,  fax +30-1-9834814, www.optronics.gr, e-mail: sales@optronics.gr

Iridian Spectral Technologies Receives Innovation of the Year Award

April 25, 2000 (Ottawa, Ontario) Iridian Spectral Technologies, an Ottawa-based manufacturer of thin film filters for fiber optic telecommunication systems was the recipient of the Year 2000 Innovation of the Year Award at the Regional Innovation Awards in Ottawa.   

The Award for Innovation of the Year was presented to Peter Dawson, President and CEO of Iridian Spectral Technologies. "I am honored to accept this prestigious award on behalf of the Iridian team who under the direction of Brian Sullivan, Iridian's Chief Technology Officer, have advanced Iridian's thin film products and found new applications for thin film technology," said Peter Dawson.  Iridian Spectral Technologies designs and manufactures thin film filters for optical communication systems for use in conjunction with fiber amplifiers and dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) transmitting and receiving modules.   The critical competencies of Iridian are in optical filter design, thin film deposition, process control, vacuum technology and optical characterization.

For more information about Iridian Spectral Technologies leading edge products or capabilities visit Iridian's website at www.iridian.ca or contact Iridian via email at inforequests@iridian.ca

Corning to Acquire NZ Applied Technologies; Manufacturer of Optical Components
Transaction increases Corning's 20% share in the company to full ownership

CORNING, NY― Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire the remaining equity in NZ Applied Technologies Corporation of Woburn, Mass., for up to $150 million in Corning common stock. As part of the agreement, a significant portion of the purchase price is contingent upon NZAT achieving certain product development milestones, following the completion of the transaction. Corning had assumed a 20% equity ownership position in the company in 1999.

In making the announcement, Corning's Passive Components Business Director, Jean-Louis Malinge stated, "The rapidly growing demand for broadband communications services, such as high-speed Internet connections and on-line video, is outstripping the capacity of communications service providers. To achieve greater functionality, companies are accelerating the deployment of Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) systems. NZAT is developing a line of high speed, solid-state, OptoCeramicä components for DWDM systems, such as variable optical attenuators (VOAs), that will meet industry demands for speed, quality and reduced size." According to Malinge, Corning intends to leverage NZAT's expertise in micro-optic component development to create new products required in photonic networks.

NZAT's President and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Norris stated, "We are delighted to be taking our three year relationship with Corning, a leading optical layer company, to the next level. The combination of NZAT's leading edge OptoCeramicT and product development expertise with Corning's market and manufacturing leadership will deliver new and unique integrated optical modules for photonic networks."

NZ Applied Technologies (www.nzat.com) is a developer and manufacturer of photonic components for optical telecommunications applications including the optical data networks industry. Founded in 1993, the company was named to the INC. 500 list of the fastest growing privately held companies in the US and also received a FAST 50 award as one of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in New England by Deloitte & Touche, LLC. NZAT manufactures a line of solid-state VOA's that are the fastest, most compact VOA's on the market today. NZAT's development programs include variable attenuator arrays, tunable optical filters, optical switches, and polarization controllers.

Established in 1851, Corning Incorporated (www.corning.com) creates leading-edge technologies for the fastest-growing markets of the world's economy. Corning manufactures optical fiber, cable and photonic products for the telecommunications industry; and high-performance displays and components for television and other communications-related industries. The company also uses advanced materials to manufacture products for scientific, semiconductor and environmental markets. Corning's revenues in 1999 were $4.7 billion.

Nanometer Technologies announces the introduction of Frank Bertotti to the Sales and Marketing Manager position , Frank has many years of experience in the sales/marketing field and has brought his expertise to Nanometer Technologies

Dianna Jasperson has been promoted to the Sales Director position for the company as well Dianna has in-depth experience in the fiber optic polishing market and is one of the best informed sales directors in the business , we welcome Frank and Dianna to their new positions.

We look forward to a long and bright future with both.

Thank you,
Mike Buzzetti
President

P.S. Nanometer Technologies has recieved it's first PATENT for Figure 8 polishing this year!!!!

Skali.com beefs up Asian entertainment news via Octopus Online

KUALA LUMPUR, April 17  Inking a series of agreements to forge alliances with key media and Internet players , e-information portal Skali.com (www.skali.com) today announced that it is teaming up with Octopus Online(www.octopus.com.my), a Malaysia based e-entertainment portal.

Skali.com's Entertainment Channel currently aggregates more than 100 pieces of entertainment-related news and articles daily, about 20 per cent of which are local and regional while the remaining 80 per cent are from the United States and Europe.

It's new alliance with Octopus Online will give Skali's entertainment channel an enhanced Asian flavor, in line with its role as an Asia-centric content aggregator.  

Octopus Online provides predominantly Asia-based content relating to the entertainment industry in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. The website can be read in three versions - Mandarin , English and Malay.

Apart from entertainment news, viewers of  Skali's Entertainment Channel will have access to Online Octopus' interactive activities, movies, music polling and software downloads from the entertainment industries of  several countries in Asia.

"The uniqueness of this partnership saves Skali.com visitors the pain of going from one site to another to find out on the Who's, What's , Where's and When's of the entertainment world. We package all these elements under one roof," says Aimi Aizal Nasharuddin, head of Skali.com.

Meanwhile, Damien Leong, CEO of Cosmos Discovery Sdn Bhd, a unit of HVD Entertainment which manages Octopus Online says the synergy between Octopus Online and Skali marks a sequential leap to a higher stature between the two parties.

"We are privileged to be in this smart partnership with Asia's premier e-info portal and we look forward to complement each other's expertise for the benefit of Internet users, in Asia and worldwide."

Aimi adds " Skali.com is always on the lookout for new services or products that will enhance user's experience while surfing our website. Being an Asia-centric content aggregator, this calls for strategic partnerships with key and relevant Internet players.

" Too much of the Internet is American and Western in flavor. Critical to the success of Internet in Asia is localisation that reflects Asia's cultural diversity. We need to project Asian's uniqueness and therefore it is paramount to have this balance of local, regional and international contents.."

In so doing, we try to localise our contents to suit the needs of Asian Internet users, be it in the areas of entertainment, business, IT, health or sports.  The tie-up with Octopus Online meets this objective."

" There will be more entertainment collaboration on its way to fulfill this overall objective further. So keep a close watch on Skali.com," says Aimi.

By providing such value-added service, Skali.com hopes to attract more of the Internet population which is growing at an incredible pace. According to a research report by International Data Corp end of last year, the number of Internet online users in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, is expected to increase from 32.8 million by end of this year to 95.2 million by 2004.

"This burgeoning number represents a huge potential market for Skali.com and Octopus Online and we want to tap on this through our combined services," says Leong.

Since its launch in 1997, Skali.com persistently seeks alliances with key media and Internet players in its effort to aggregate contents that are Asia-centric, comprehensive and interactive in nature. This is evidenced in its 10 channels that range from business, information technology , health, women and entertainment.

CDT Acquires Silicon Valley Based Fiber Optic Component Company
BoseLAN Acquisition Broadens Product Line and Strengthens CDT's Move Into
Active Fiber Optic Components

PITTSBURGH, April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Cable Design Technologies (NYSE: CDT - news), a leading worldwide provider of gigabit network connectivity products, announced today the acquisition of BoseLAN (www.boselan.com), a small Silicon Valley based active fiber optic components company. BoseLAN is a developer of high performance fiber optic components, including multiplexers, switches, media converters and Ethernet test equipment used in a wide array of voice, video and data connectivity applications.

``This strategic acquisition strengthens our position in the active fiber optic components marketplace and complements our existing fiber optic operations portfolio in Silicon Valley, New England, Canada and Mexico,'' Paul Olson, President and CEO of CDT commented. ``BoseLAN will allow us to further penetrate the Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), Application Service Provider (ASP) and Internet Service Provider (ISP) markets by delivering a comprehensive portfolio of fiber optic products. BoseLAN will also continue to support its present relationships with large OEMs and network system manufacturers while designing new products that will complement our existing gigabit structured connectivity systems.''

``Today's optical communication systems must combine high density fiber management with features such as copper-to-fiber media conversion as well as ATM and Ethernet switching technology,'' said Red Hawk Company President, Andrew Galli. ``By consolidating BoseLAN's technical resources with Red Hawk's passive fiber optic component offering we will be able to offer the market plug-and-play optical networking systems that combine gigabit speeds with ease of installation.''

Cable Design Technologies is a leading designer and manufacturer of high bandwidth network connectivity products, fiber optic cable and connectors, assemblies, components, computer interconnect cables for communication switching applications, and communications cable products used in wireless, central office and local loop applications. CDT also manufactures electronic data and signal transmission products that are used in automation and process control and specialty applications. For more information

on CDT, visit www.cdtc.com. The Company's products are manufactured or distributed under the trade names Montrose/CDT, Phalo/CDT, West Penn/CDT, Mohawk/CDT, Manhattan/CDT, X-Mark/CDT, Dearborn/CDT, Thermax/CDT, Barcel/CDT, Red Hawk, NORDX/CDT and NORCOM/CDT in North America, NEK/CDT and Orebro/CDT in Sweden, Anglo American/CDT and Raydex/CDT in the U.K., Cekan/CDT in Denmark, HEW-KABEL/CDT in Germany and ITC/CDT in Italy.

Precision Polishing Products starts it's second year as a 3M distributor. We have also moved to a larger facility to accomodate the fiber optic industries hugh growth. With our large inventory, excellant service and same day shipping your company should never have a delivery problem.

RIFOCS Extends Its' Global Fiber Optic Connection in Asia

Beijing, China - Due to RIFOCS Corporation's ever-increasing global presence and subsequent success in the international marketplace, it recently completed the setup of its China office in Beijing.  RIFOCS welcomes Mr. Cheng Yuan as its' new Country Manager in charge of the local fiber optic test and measurement instruments distributor network and post-sales activities.  Cheng Yuan has a reputable background in the fiber optics industry and has been familiar with the RIFOCS instruments for several years.  Service and technical support programs are currently in development.