Alcatel Lucent Succeeds in 400G Trial, Shares Up - Analyst Blog

Alcatel Lucent Soci ALU has recently teamed up with the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION) to conduct a field test for 400G research, education and innovation (RE&I) optical network. Results of the dedicated research conducted for the first time in North America were declared on April 7, 2014. 

The development aided the company's share prices to gain nearly 1.3% on April 8. However, the impetus could not be sustained and the stock closed slightly lower at $3.89 on April 9.

Alcatel Lucent conducted the trial between ORION's Point of Presence (PoP) in Toronto and New York. The tests revealed the scope and potential of a 400G network. It also proved that a solitary 400G signal was powerful enough to aid as many as 6.25 million voice calls that are equivalent to 20,000 CDs.                            

ORION is one of the most popular wireline network operators in Canada. It has an efficient fibre-optic network with 27 PoPs across Ontario which are also connected to external RE&I and carrier networks. The network, adept at handling big data, serves as many as 2 million consumers across Canada.

Alcatel Lucent had deployed its 1830 Photonic Service Switch PSS in the ORION field test which was powered by the 400G Photonic Service Engine PSE. This technology was developed in the company's state-of-the-art innovation arm – Bell Labs, headquartered at Murray Hill, NJ.

The successful trial is likely to benefit a large number of consumers across the world. In Ontario especially, upcoming researchers and neuroscientists work on big data platforms for the Brain-CODE project, a program of the Ontario Brain Institute. The project requires a huge amount of data relating to genetic imaging and clinical data to be transferred among the personnel for smooth collaboration between them. The efficient ORION network is designed to optimally meet these challenging requirements.

On April 7, Alcatel Lucent also launched a novel application for determining and predicting the pattern of energy consumption and efficiency. The application called G.W.A.T.T. – ‘Global 'What if' Analyzer of NeTwork Energy ConsumpTion' will be utilizing data obtained from various traffic growth situations and technology evolution options for optimizing the energy consumed. It will also significantly cut down on operating costs of information and communications technology (ICT) which have been on a rise in recent times, owing to the ongoing surge in data traffic.

Alcatel Lucent currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other stocks that can be considered at the moment include Nokia Corp. NOK, ClearOne, Inc. CLRO and Corning Inc. GLW. While Nokia carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), both ClearOne and Corning have the same rank as Alcatel Lucent.