Alcatel's Turnaround Continues With Ultra-Fast Networks in Spain

By Anders Bylund – Apr 18, 2013 at 8:00PM

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Alcatel adds another high-speed feather to its optical networking cap. Where are the other big boys?

Telefonica (TEF -0.68%) Spain just installed a new high-speed optical network that beats the old installment by a factor of 2.6. It was done over existing fiber pairs, adding new Alcatel Lucent (NYSE: ALU) hardware on both sides of the fiber connection.

It's an easy upgrade path for Telefonica, and another great proof of concept for Alcatel. This particular installation is 30% faster than similar projects unveiled earlier this year, and Alcatel's rivals have yet to respond with network speeds of this caliber.

Alcatel Lucent has struggled in recent years and could use some good PR right about now. In this video, Fool contributor Anders Bylund dives into the details of Telefonica's ultra-fast optical link.

Fool contributor Anders Bylund owns shares of France Telecom. The Motley Fool recommends Cisco Systems and France Telecom. The Motley Fool owns shares of France Telecom. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.