avelengths are referred to as DWDM (see Figure 1.19). Systems at both the OC-48 (2.5Gbps) and OC-192 (10Gbps) levels can today support upward of 128 channels, or wavelengths. New systems that operate at 40Gbps (OC-768) are also now available, and Bell Labs is working on a technique that might enable us to extract up to 15,000 channels or wavelengths on a single fiber. Meanwhile, CWDM has been introduced to address metro area and campus environments, where long distance is not an issue, but cost is. These sys- items rely on lower-cost light sources that reduce costs, but at the same time, they require increased spacing between the channels and therefore limit CWDM sys- OC-48 = 2.5Gbps OC-192 = 10Gbps OC-48x16 = 40Gbps OC-48x100 = 200.5Gbps OC-192x8 = 80Gbps OC-192x32 = 320Gbps Figure 1.19 WDM and DWDM Political and Regulatory Forces in Telecommunications tems to 32 or 64 channels, at most. An important point to note is that at this time, DWDM and CWDM systems do not always interoperate; of course, this will be resolved in the near future, but for the time being, it is a limitation that needs to be acknowledged. The revolution truly has just begun. The progress in this area is SO great that each year we're approximately doubling performance while halving costs. Again, great emphasis is being placed on the optical sector, SO many companies-tradi- tional telecom providers, data networking providers, and new startups-are focus- ing attention on the optical revolution. (WDM, DWDM, CWDM, and EDFAs discussed in more detail in Chapter 11, "Optical Networking.") Political and Regulatory Forces in Telecommunications New developments always bring politics with them. Different groups vie for money, power, the ability to bring new products to market first and alone, and the right to squash others' new ideas. A prominent characteristic of the telecommuni- cations sector is the extent to which it is influenced by government policy and reg- ulation. The forces these exert on the sector are inextricably tied to technological and m