We identified the amplified spontaneous emission-amplified spontaneous emission (ASE-ASE) beat noise from the semiconductor optical amplifier, which has been overlooked in previous studies, as a cause of severe system penalties when it was used to provide single-channel amplification in a dynamic central office environment through experimental studies. Our results pointed out that the ASE-ASE beat noise of the optical amplifier, other than its gain and noise figure, has to be considered to correctly predict its performance in these new applications.