Company that invented the universal optical transceiver turns 20

The business was founded in 2002 in Poland with the goal of revolutionising optical networking and helping customers make the most of their fibre resources. Salumanus announces plans to replicate their success in Poland globally, starting with their secondary office in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Salumanus was born to make advanced telecommunications technologies more easily available and accessible for companies and solve issues arising from multi-vendor equipment in building networks. To ensure networks are end-to-end efficient and optimised, telco operators needed to implement multiple branded devices and work with at least two different vendors. Besides becoming a costly task, managing solutions from different companies increased the risk of incompatibility with the existing equipment.

To resolve this dilemma, Salumanus introduced the Simple Recode Device (SRD), a tool that allows customers to create universal optical transceivers. The SRD enables the reconfiguration of optical modules to make them compatible with devices from any vendors. The technology uses cloud connectivity to update whenever a new interface or modules comes on the market, but it also allows engineers to remotely connect to it for maintenance.

“When Salumanus was born, the only way for telco operators to achieve reliable optical networks was through sourcing equipment from different vendors, often leading to incompatibility issues,” explained Marcin Bala, CEO of Salumanus. “We wanted to create a vendor and host agnostic solution that would allow companies to reduce their stock of equipment and mitigate their e-waste levels, prolong the lifetime of transceivers and increase customisation in their networks. Thanks to the SRD, customers can save up to 80% in the TCO of transceivers,” continued Bala.

From 2015 to 2019, the company had an average yearly growth of 24%, predicted to increase in the coming years, and has partnered with giants in the telecom sector like Orange, T-Mobile as well as cable operators and ISPs like UPC, Vectra and Wildanet. For its growth and innovation in optical networking, Salumanus was included in the Forbes Diamonds List in 2021, a prestigious award that acknowledges the most successful businesses in Poland.

Salumanus is also a key partner in helping European countries develop their 5G infrastructures and facilitating their move from copper to fibre networks. In Poland, Salumanus developed plenty of DWDM system helping companies make the most of their fibre resources. In the UK, the company collaborates with British providers to speed-up 5G rollout throughout the country, by providing resilient optical solutions.

“Salumanus — as our name suggests — offers a helping hand so that customers can reach their data transmission and network optimisation goals”, commented Bala. “We use our years of expertise and original implementation methods to deliver the most efficient solutions. We’re always one step ahead of the market, researching and distributing the latest technologies. This summer we will release a new 400G Coherent transceiver with 0dBm output power, which will help with data requirements for new applications, like virtual reality, quantum computing and even the metaverse and future 6G applications.”

On top of their unique SRD, the company distributes WDM systems, alien wavelength solutions and embedded systems that complement network optimisation and increase the capacity of the fibre optic cable. The solutions are tested in a specialist laboratory in Poland by a team of over 60 expert engineers.