A near-traveling-wave semiconductor laser amplifier (SLA) has been used as a dual-function device to simultaneously perform optical amplification and to receive baseband network control data in a multichannel subcarrier multiplexed system. The dual-function SLA receives 100 Mb/s baseband signal from the electrical terminal with an error rate of less than 10(-9) and improves the system power budget by 11 dB for five FSK channels (100 Mb/s each) in the 2-3 GHz band. Using SLA's as dual- or multiple-function devices in broad-band networks is an attractive means to enhance network functionality and performance.