growth rate, which generated enthusiasm and demand, leading to unsustainable
expectations. Could such a discontinuity happen again? Perhaps, but chastened
investors now seem to be following a more gradual and sensible path. Throughout
the “bubble-and-bust” until the present, the actual demand for bandwidth has
grown at a very healthy 80% per year globally; thus, real traffic demand
experienced no bubble at all. The growth and capacity needs are real, and should
continue in the future.
As a final comment, we note that optical fiber communications is firmly
entrenched as part of the global information infrastructure. The only question is
how deeply will it penetrate and complement other forms of communications, e.g.,
wireless, access, and on-premises ...