Acesa Telecom will deploy nearly 8,000 fiber kilometers of Corning LEAF optical fiber for its 250-kilometer Iberian network overbuild, extending from Zaragoza to the Mediterranean Coast.

The work is scheduled to begin in 2002. This represents Acesa's first deployment of LEAF fiber.

When complete, the network will connect the entire northeast region of Spain from Catalunya to Aragon and link Acesa's existing optical-fiber network across Catalunya. Corning Cable Systems is the exclusive cable and hardware supplier for this project.

"Corning is proud to offer the technology to support Acesa's optical network project," says Derrick Wells, managing director of Corning Optical Fiber Europe. "We are pleased to be working with Acesa and applaud their commitment to the development of high-technology telecommunications infrastructures in the Iberian Peninsula."

LEAF fiber is a non-zero dispersion-shifted fiber. It allows high levels of power to be transmitted through the fiber, minimizing the non-linear effects that degrade system performance.

Corning Inc., based in Corning, NY, manufactures optical fiber, cable and photonic products for the telecommunications industry and high-performance displays and components for television, information technology and other communications-related industries.