According to the invention, an optical transmission module includes a transmission element, and a driver which drives the transmission element. The driver uses a transmission signal that is applied to its driver input to produce a drive signal for the transmission element. The transmission module furthermore has a control device which drives the driver, and which furthermore, is programmable. A multiplexing device is connected between a signal input of the optical transmission module, the driver input of the driver and the control device, and can be used to switch an input signal, which is applied to the signal input of the transmission module, to the control device or to the driver.