Tyco Electronics on Tuesday said it will buy network-equipment supplier ADC Telecommunications Inc. for about $1.25 billion, boosting its presence in the wireless market and giving it a bigger footprint in the U.S.

Lightwave is reporting that 66 new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act broadband projects will kick off in the second round of broadband stimulus awards. In round two, like round one, many awards will go to projects that are based on fiber-optic communications, Lightwave says. "The projects involve last-mile, middl-mile,a nd public computing center applications," says Lightwave editor-in-chief Stephen Hardy in his report. He also states that the single biggest grant/loan combination of $48.1 million will go to Wilkes Telephone & Electric Co. of Georgia. Hardy explained that the $795 million in grants and loans made through the Departments of Commerce and Agriculture have been matched by more than $200 million in outside investment.

Graybar Canada has expanded its reach with the acquisition of AVAD Industrial Sales. The Sudbudy, Ontario-based distributor provides solutions for automation, control, power distribution and energy monitoring. The acquisition is in keeping with Grabyar Canada's focus on the industrial market in 2010, the company says. Graybar has been providing systems and solutions to industrial clients for years. Frank Hughes, Graybar Canada's chief executive officer, lauded his staff's technical expertise and emphasized that they already are actively serving the company's current market. he noted that the AVAD Industrial Sales acquisition allows Graybar Canada to tap into additional market potential in the Ontario area.

One of the biggest problems facing optical network managers is assuring system uptime. The key ingredient in optical network performance is getting the fiber technicians to clean and inspect fiber-optic endfaces, particularly their test jumpers.

Is Google planning to build a global fiber-optic network from scratch? And, if so, why?