The metro market is moving fast - at least in terms of transport systems. At the National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference in Denver this week, optical metro solutions are expected to be a hot issue. Kicking off the week is a demonstration from Centerpoint Broadband Technologies, which will unveil its Lightwave Efficient Network Solution, or LENS, with 20 Gb/s transport speeds over a single wavelength.

LENS is a multiservice aggregation and transport system for metropolitan area service providers. It solves the "next-to-the-last-mile bottleneck," said Roselyne Genin, vice president of marketing for Centerpoint. "It allows [carriers] to transport more information on a single wavelength than anyone has done so far. It also is able to mix different services - Sonet, IP, ATM and gigabit Ethernet. They can mix and match the services on the same system."

Centerpoint also will reveal this week that MKG-SBC Investments - a partnership between SBC Communications and MKG Group - has invested $7.5 million in Centerpoint. The MKG-SBC backing brings the total equity investment in Centerpoint to $67 million. Other investors include BancBoston Ventures, Cisco Systems, ComVentures, Menlo Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners and ViVentures.

MKG-SBC was not available for comment, but backing from SBC is a coup for a start-up.

"This investment is a great validation of the need for more... flexible networks that do not require a forklift upgrade," Genin said.

LENS supports Sonet transport and will allow carriers to migrate to wave division multiplexing (WDM) systems using the same equipment. It also will provide performance monitoring, fault isolation and protection switching without using Sonet encapsulation.

The system operates in point-to-point and mesh networks from DS-3 to OC-48 services. It uses subcarrier multiplexing (SCM) to deliver 20 Gb/s transport in the metro; in an unprotected scenario, that can reach speeds of 40 Gb/s, Genin said.

"This is twice the amount of bandwidth done in the TDM systems," she said. "We are able to pack more information in the spectrum than any other [technology] will allow us to do."

That puts Centerpoint in competition with Ciena, Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks. But the metro market is growing quickly, which opens the door for Centerpoint and other new companies.

"Obviously, 20 Gb/s on a single wavelength is double what Lucent and Ciena are doing [with] 10 Gb/s," said Brian Van Steen, optical networking analyst for RHK "The market can't be dominated by one or two players. There will be leaders, but there is still room for other competitive offerings."

Other NFOEC-goers such as Kestrel Solutions and Mayan Networks also have aggregation and transport systems. Mayan's Unifier SMX device is a multiservice optical access and transport platform designed for the metro edge. It aggregates traffic down to the DS-0 level.

The Unifier is a "flat switch" because it has no LAN or WAN orientation, said Scott Lukes, market development manager for Mayan.

"We'll take a bunch of partially used T-1s and pack them onto one T-1," he said. "The key is how you put different customers and services onto a single fat pipe. You do that in the box - it's smart about what's going in and out of it."

One of the potential issues with the Centerpoint device is that it could be miscast in the network, which can lead to a Cerent-like identity crisis.

"Cerent, for all practical purposes, is a metro core box," Lukes said. "You don't need a 250 Gb/s backplane on the metro edge. Honestly, you don't need 20 Gb/s. It gives you bragging rights, but when you do that, the market is going to position you in an area you don't want to be fighting in."

Kestrel's device also aggregates traffic for more efficient transport over OC-3 to OC-48 links. It uses frequency division multiplexing (FDM), a technology similar to Centerpoint's SCM, said Scott Wilkinson, Kestrel's senior manager of applications engineering. With FDM, carriers can start with a low-bandwidth offering and scale to a WDM system when demand arises.

Though metro WDM has garnered much attention, it's not annihilating Sonet from the metro. A Pioneer Consulting study projects the metro space would reach $14 billion by 2004. Multiservice Sonet accounts for $6.3 billion, traditional Sonet for $4 billion and the remainder is IP boxes and metro WDM.

Further supporting the push in the metro, Nortel last week won a $60 million contract with Fiberworks. The emerging carrier's carrier will deploy the OPTera Metro solution in central business districts across the southern U.S.

"The metro space is the last battleground," said Scott Burkholder, president and CEO of Fiberworks. The company will supply last-mile fiber to providers such as building local exchange providers and regional service providers.