Optical network research and development in European Community programs: from RACE to ACTS

The European Union programs of cooperative research and development in telecommunications aim to ensure the realization of the future information society. The RACE Program (1988 to 1995) made an important contribution to the development of advanced optical communications. The current ACTS Program has an increased focus on field trials and networking. ACTS projects in the field of optical networks are studying multiwavelength network concepts, customer access, high-speed multiplexing and transport, and components and subsystems.