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The author considers how the application of photonics could increase throughput by one or two orders of magnitude above the approximately 100 Mb/s provided by current fiber-based packet networks. He examines two approaches. One is to increase concurrency, i.e., the number of messages flowing simultaneously in a network, by packing the fiber with multiplexed messages from many transmitters operating simultaneously. The use of wavelength-division multiaccess for this purpose is examined. Another important development in this direction, namely, the improved performance and reliability of optical amplifiers, is also discussed. The other approach to increasing throughput is photonic switching. The factors affecting the value of photonics in packet switching are examined.