A modulator with polarization marking comprising two input ports for receiving two optical signals at one wavelength, and exhibiting essentially perpendicular optical polarization states, capable of phase-modulating those signals with data signals and of combining them with polarization, characterized in that it comprises a source of phase overmodulation for overmodulating the phase of one of said two optical signals, said phase overmodulation exhibiting a modulation frequency substantially lower than the modulation frequency of said data signals. A method and a coherent receiver are also disclosed.