Coventry, England — Embattled communications equipment supplier Marconi insists that the proposed transfer of its ultra-long haul development operations from Stratford-upon-Avon to its New Century Park complex in Coventry does not signal a reduction in commitment to fibre transmission R&D. The company today (Wednesday 15th January) started consultation with the 60 engineering and support staff affected by the proposal, which Marconi says is part of an on-going and necessary cost reduction programme.
The company said it hopes all those involved would accept the move to Coventry where, according to a Marconi spokesman "there is plenty of space because of the cost reduction that has already taken place."
The team at Stratford-upon-Avon team has been working on technologies for high-speed optical transmission. Marconi said in a statement it "remains committed to its dispersion-managed soliton technology developed at Stratford-upon-Avon. This technology allows transmission speeds in excess of 1 Tbit/s over thousands of kilometres, eliminating the current need for high cost regeneration of optical signals."
The Stratford-upon-Avon site is expected to be closed by the end of March. Last December Marconi and network operator IP1 Australia announced the beginning of transmission on what is claimed to be the world's longest overland broadband cable link without regeneration, based on technology developed by the team at Stratford-upon Avon.
The photonics development group involved was only created in June 2000, and much of the work is based on research from the nearby University of Aston.
