As part of an ongoing investigation to characterize the properties and structure of zinc halide-tellurium oxide glasses, we report preliminary measurements of the optical properties of several Nd- and Er-doped tellurites. Measurements include florescence lifetimes and estimates of the theoretical radiative lifetimes (as obtained by traditional Judd-Ofelt analysis of optical absorption spectra) as well as phonon sideband studies sensitive to vibrational characteristics near the rare earth ion. The response of these optical features to the substitution of alternative halides is examined.