One embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of first optical elements and a second optical element optically coupled to one another in cascaded fashion. Each first optical element has a group delay response characterized by a first period such that only one group delay peak occurs within a first channel. By contrast, the second optical element has a group delay response characterized by a second period, which is less than the first period, such that more than one group delay peak occurs within the first channel. The preferred embodiment uses cascaded GT etalons to provide the desired group delay responses. One advantage of the present invention is that the passband of the dispersion compensator is increased relative to prior art designs without increasing insertion losses. Alternatively, the same passband common in prior art designs may be achieved with fewer GT etalons, thereby reducing insertion losses.