The invention provides an 
optical communication system (10) comprising a plurality of mutually interconnected bi-directional optical 
waveguide rings (20, 30, 40, 50, 60) in which 
radiation modulated with communication traffic propagates. The 
radiation is partitioned into 32 distinct wavebands. Interfaces (70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120) are included in the 
system (10) where communication traffic propagating in the rings transfers from one ring to another. Each interface (70) is capable of providing an all-optical waveband reconfigurable 
communication link between the rings (20, 30, 40, 50, 60). At each interface (70), conversion of 
optical radiation to corresponding electrical signals is not required when transferring communication traffic from one ring to another, thereby providing the 
system (10) with a potentially larger 
communication bandwidth compared to conventional 
optical communication systems. If required, the interfaces (70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120) can include one or more of 
regenerative amplification (440, 850, 852, 854, 856, 858, 860, 862, 864) and 
wavelength-switching transponders (1332, 1410).