Methods and apparatus for controlling a bias voltage supplied to an optical modulator, the modulator comprising a biasable component, the biasable component being configurable to be biased by application of the bias voltage (20) such that the modulator operates at quadrature, the method comprising: providing a target for the output power of the modulator, the target for the output power of the modulator being an output power corresponding to the modulator operating at quadrature; applying, to the biasable component, a bias voltage (20) having an initial value of 0V; and, thereafter, varying the bias voltage (20) until the value of the bias voltage (20) is the value that is closest to the initial value and that biases the biasable component so that the output power of the modulator is within a pre-defined range of the target output power.