ABC-Sch:"However, isn't Macom a NA Tier 1 company? "

NO, I do not think they are considered a T1 in the context of the POET NA T1, or European T1 for that matter.  Think Broadcom, Cisco, Adva.  These are the T1's who provide complete solutions to the primary end users such as data centre operators, major telcos, etc.

MACOM provides a diverse set of products and services to its customers, including foundry and design services, RF componets, lasers, drivers, amplifiers, etc.  These are all components that could be incorporated into products used by T1's, manufactured by module makers, or stand alone electronic components for specialized applications in aerospace, defense, medical, etc.  It makes complete sense for POET to engage with a company such as MACOM as a supplier of electronic parts (eg TIAs, photodiodes, drivers, etc ) for use in their optical engines.

With respect to the MACOM puredrive, this is a chipset intended to be incorporated into new devices (ie module makers will incorporate these into their transceiver manufacturing processes.  Its anyone's guess whether or not this chipset has been designed with POET's OE in mind, but certainly a possibility.  Bottom line, IMO, its very unlikely this a connection to the now infamous NA Tier 1.