a scheme is described for mitigating the effects of polarization - mode dispersion in a wave - division multiplex optical communication system having one or more transmission links with one or more quasi - static waveguide sections coupled by one or more non - static coupling sections . a transmitter is coupled to the transmission link and is adapted to transmit optical signals through the transmission link with wavelength channel spacing of the optical signals greater than about the pmd correlation bandwidth of at least one of the one or more quasi - static waveguide sections , so that the pmd induced outage probability for the system is optimized .