The research and teaching of the macro-area communications is particularly active in the field of Photonic Networks and Technologies, which stands as a unique example of a nationwide centre for research, thanks to the collaboration between SSSA, Ericsson AB Company and the National Consortium for Telecommunications (CNIT). The Institute TeCIP hosts at its headquarters one Research and Development Center of Ericsson and the National Lab of Photonic Networks CNIT, already cited.

The area of communications is able to develop relevant projects through the complementarity of skills, the international-level scientific qualification and its size, both in terms of human resources and equipment; namely, it can produce experimentations that even include technology demonstrations in relevant (industry) environment, i.e. up to TRL6. The research staff consists of professors, researchers, graduate students and technicians. In addition, the area offers high quality training and professional education in the field of communications.

The area is currently structured into seven research areas:

• networks and services
• optical communication systems
• theory and techniques of optical communications
• digital and micro-wave photonics
• optical sensors and integrated photonic subsystems
• high-capacity optical systems
• advanced technologies for integrated photonics

In addition to several formal agreements for scientific collaboration with universities and companies in Europe (as part of specific projects of the European Commission), the TeCIP Institute has also formal partnerships with the many institutions outside of Europe, as an example we list some of these:

• University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), USA
• Microphotonics Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (USA)
• University of California at Davis (UCDavis), USA
• University of Southern California (USC), USA
• McGill University, Quebec, Canada
• Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Quebec, Canada
• National Institute of Information and Communication Technology (NICT), Japan
• Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), South Korea
• Osaka University, Japan