By Bengt O. Hallberg

Early on, I identified the transmitter and stabilization of the light source wavelength as crucial for advanced WDM systems. On March 3, 1985, BOH Optical AB had conducted the first test run of its TX B 201 transmitter module. It was a success! Next, we tested the entire system in a real-world environment.

BOH TX rack (a photocopy of a slide from the 1980s).

Televerket (The Swedish Telecommunications Authority)

Formerly Televerket and now Telia AB, had laid a multimode fiber optic cable between its headquarters in Farsta, Stockholm, Sweden, and the newly built residential area in nearby Skarpnäck in 1985. This stretch was used for the test run.

In this context, BOH Optical AB was a small startup. Televerket, on the other hand, was a government agency that held a monopoly on Sweden's telecommunications market. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, which still operates under that name but is commonly known as Ericsson, was the manufacturer. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, Ericsson had lost interest in the WDM technologyu long ago.

My advantage

My only advantage was my scientific and technical expertise in photonics. In that respect, I felt unchallenged. I perceived that both organizations were in the process of building it up.

At that time, Swedish culture was strongly collectivist. It was all about toeing the line, blending in, and not taking the initiative. Fortunately, the 21st century has seen a trend toward greater diversity and openness, even for strong individuals within the Swedish community.

The opposite was true in the American society. The aim there was to highlight people of this type. During the 1980s, the STEM world in the US was constantly curious about development and new technology. People realized that the individuals behind a particular innovation were its core. It was important to nurture these individuals and use "successful Silicon Valley–style funding" to bring high-tech products to market.

Commercialization

The upside was that successful companies made a lot of money and grew quickly. However, their products often didn't have time to meet the higher quality standards common in Sweden and the rest of the EU. There are many examples of this in the computer industry, though there are also several exceptions.

At the same time, the American companies that dominate the global IT market today were once in a similar position to that of BOH Optical AB in the 1980s. Their leaders had backgrounds similar to mine. For me, my three or four trips a year to the U.S. at that time were of crucial importance.

It wasn't because I learned so much about photonics; rather, it was to keep up with the latest research, meet colleagues, and confirm that I was still on top of things. This gave me the motivation to persevere in a certain isolation at home in Sweden.

Initial performance characterization

The announcement that the BOH Fiber Optics WDM System 80, a video/audio system with a transfer capacity of 3 x 140 Mbit/s, would undergo testing at Televerket came at relatively short notice. With a total transfer capacity of 420 Mbit/s, it was enormous for its time. The highest commercial capacity for subscribers was 64 kbit/s with ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) those days, which was introduced in 1985.

Ideally, I would have preferred to use commercially available MUX and DEMUX units that were manufactured by hand according to our specifications. However, this had resulted in long delivery times. Only our own prototypes were available at this point.

Televerket that conducted the test was highly skilled and knowledgeable about electronic telecommunications systems. For BOH Optical AB, this authority was an excellent reference for later large-scale production.

After the test had been carried out, Televerket stated that they did not need video/audio transmission. However, they did require a fiber optic drop/insert system. For this purpose, they used Nokia electronics.

Change of direction

For BOH Optical AB, there was only one way forward. If we were to have any chance of surviving in Sweden, we had to take the initiative and assume overall responsibility for developing such a system in collaboration with Nokia. Read my next blog post to find out what happened.

Next blog

My next blog post will be published on Tuesday, March 31, 2026.

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