Tellabs Blog

On Sunday we celebrated the retirement of Tellabs co-founder and chairman, Michael J. Birck.  About 400 people came to Naperville from far and wide to wish Mike well.

Mike founded Tellabs in 1975. The company started out with $110,000 raised by the founders and a $50,000 loan from a local bank. Most of the founders took no salary the first year.

Through the work of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) and other Ethernet standards supporting bodies, Carrier Ethernet is becoming the dominant transport technology in global telecommunications. This week, the MEF introduced a new suite of certifications for Ethernet equipment manufacturers.

All over the world, service providers face the challenge of exponential mobile data growth. Addressing user demand puts considerable strain on networks. What’s more, service providers need ways to maximize revenue and keep costs down.

With our innovative solutions, Tellabs helps our customers overcome these challenges. Our products make customers’ networks smarter and simpler, so users around the globe can get what they need, exactly when they need it.

In September, Tellabs hosted its annual Industry Analyst Conference and unveiled our brand new Tellabs® 100 Series Mini Optical Network Terminals. We interviewed several analysts from around the globe to collect their thoughts on our new products.

In the heart of Helsinki, an old building got a new life when the University of Helsinki selected it as the site of Finland’s biggest scientific university library called Kaisa. The renovation replaced existing department store clothing ledges with more than 30 kilometers of book shelves.

In 2011, the new campus library received a Tellabs Foundation grant of $50,000 for its information technology system.  This capability helps people access the library’s resources 24 hours per day. Both the foundation and library recognize how important these tools are to local education efforts.