Reduced data rate operation mode for high speed optical communication device

An optical communication device (e.g., a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver) includes a control input for selecting between operating the optical communication device in a normal operation mode for communicating data according to a first data rate and operating the optical transmitter in a reduced data rate operation mode for communicating data according to a second data rate lower than the first data rate. The optical communication device includes a forward error correction encoder and/or decoder and a modulator and/or demodulator. When operating in the reduced data rate mode, data is re-formatted for compatibility with the same forward error correction scheme and modulation/demodulation scheme used in the normal data rate mode, thereby enabling the reduced data rate mode without significant architectural overhead.