The dark fiber community continues to expand worldwide. Last week, the news came from China and Japan. This past week, it was Croatia, while cities and states in the U.S. are quickly expanding the optical networking infrastructure. Also, reports suggest that networks are rapidly adopting 100G Ethernet technology.

TMCnet contributing writer Jody Ray Bennett reported that the Croation government’s national utilities company Hrvatska Elektroprivreda (HEP Group) and ADVA (News - Alert) Optical Network have announced the first successful application of 100G Ethernet technology in the country. As per the report, in collaboration with their regional partner ITeRATIO, both the companies have successfully conducted the testing of the fast Ethernet technology over 400 km distance between the cities of Zagreb and Split.

 Seen by many as the next step along the road to modernizing the country’s communications infrastructure, director of IT and Telecommunications for HEP Group, Zelimir Pibercnik, said that while over €3.3 million was spent on upgrading the country’s network infrastructure to 10G, also in conjunction with ADVA Optical Network, further demand for high-speed data transfer is motivating the 100G upgrade. He hopes that addressing these demands, by increasing the network’s performance and flexibility, will encourage both local and foreign investment in the region going forward.

Serving Croatia’s electricity, heat and gas needs for more than a century, HEP Group’s 2.3 million customers will be the first in the region to enjoy the 100G technology, wrote Bennett. The report suggests that the 100G technology will support HEP Group’s efforts in the development of the region.

Likewise, TMCnet contributor Shankar Pandiath reported that end-to-end metro service provider SpringNet has deployed optical networking company Transmode’s next generation TM series platform incorporating its ROADM (News - Alert) flexible optical networking technology. SpringNet, a division of City Utilities of Springfield, Missouri, is upgrading its existing WDM network to meet the future demands of the customers.

Other news from the dark fiber community was the streaming of KVM signals over Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) infrastructure. TMCnet web editor Ashley Caputo reported that for businesses looking to improve computer accessibility anywhere in the building, Gefen (News - Alert) released a new solution that streams KVM signals over a GbE infrastructure. As per this report, the three solutions, the HDMI KVM over IP; DVI KVM over IP and VGA KVM over IP extenders, efficiently extends peripherals over CAT-5 cable to access computer video, audio, and control from any room within the LAN, with high definition resolution up to 1080p.

Similarly, TMCnet contributor Rajani Baburajan reported that Texas metro-regional fiber and networking solutions provider Alpheus Communications (News - Alert) is helping Berkeley Eye Center to link its data center and retail locations. As per this report, Alpheus’ MPLS, Dedicated Internet Access, Ethernet and Fiber Networking solutions are helping Berkeley connect more than a dozen facilities throughout southeast Texas with the company’s data center and corporate headquarters.

The report indicates that this service is not only enabling the eye-care provider to establish high-speed direct connections between all of its offices and its own data center, but also provides Berkeley Eye Center a private, secure and reliable pathway to share patient records and access unified billing and scheduling systems.

Zayo Group announced its partnership with EvoSwitch to provide connectivity to its customers at major US and European networks and locations. Under this deal, the customers of both the companies can easily have access to US and European networks, said Zayo, according to a report by TMCnet contributor Raju Shanbhag.

And Cross River Fiber, a provider of boutique dark fiber optic and telecommunications solutions, has successfully completed the deployment of its direct end-to-end dark fiber route between Weehawken and Secaucus, New Jersey, according to a report by TMCnet contributor Shamila Janakiraman.

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