The Oregonian: reports that Portland, Oregon-based Network Elements is desperately looking for a buyer. Founded in 1998, the privately held Beaverton company made optoelectronic devices and had raised $115 million in funding altogether, including $15 million in new investment secured in November 2003. But as we all know, the market for fiber optic components is in a bit of a slump and even big players are finding the going tough. One of the investors in Network Elements is chip maker TriQuint, which I guess is going to take its lumps as well. Oregon’s local broadband ISP Internet CDS has decided to call it quits, and is sending its customers to Qwest. Chief Executive Officer Cleve Tooker told a local daily that “his company, caught between rising costs and increasing competition, had lost money every month of its operation.”