A looped WDM optical network comprises an optical loop with optical amplifiers (12,16) between the sections of the loop (11) and with ASE recirculation in the loop. At a point of the loop a laser beam is injected and allowed to circulate in the loop with the laser beam being centered around a .lamda..sub.LINK wavelength where it is desired that a lasing peak be generated. This supplies high network strength in terms of section loss variations and greatly improves the OSNR of the WDM signal. High network survivability is also achievable.