Infinera Corp.: Party line

Putting an optical fiber network together is like wiring a non-stop talker: each component must join to the others, a matrix of cables and synapses that transport information impulses and spew them out the mouth. Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ:INFN) is like that. It is racing toward profitability and won’t stop until it gets there.

Infinera has lots to talk about. It plans to scale networks and increase bandwidth to handle growth in long-term telecommunications demand. It tells about the success of its DTN system, a digital optical communications system, and its unique technologies to address the $15 billion total optical market. And how it’s moving into new venues, such as dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM), which Infinera says is a $6 billion dollar market segment.

And it is not just talking, it’s doing. Infinera is selling DTN systems nearly as fast as it moves information. DTN uses Infinera’s photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology, which receives 100 gigabits per second of optical capacity and incorporates functions of more than 60 discrete optical components into a pair of indium phosphide chips. That’s a mouthful, but believe the experts: it’s a lot of information, and it’s quick. 

Incorporated in 2000, Infinera shipped its first DTN system in 2004. In fiscal 2007 through December, revenues more than quadrupled those of 2006, reaching $246 million from $58 million. At the end of the first quarter, Infinera had 44 customers--telecommunications, cable and internet service providers--in the United States and overseas. Twenty-two percent of its sales were international, to China, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom...

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