Broadband amplified WDM ring

The present invention relates generally to optical networking, and, more particularly, to installations in which a WDM ring carries short-haul communications. A fiber-optic WDM ring carries communication traffic among a plurality of nodes, each node associated with respective subscriber premises. Remote gain is provided in at least one link of the ring. In specific embodiments of the invention, the remote gain is applied preferentially to those wavelength channels most in need of amplification. In specific embodiments of the invention, the remote gain is Raman gain.