JANUARY 25, 2011 -- Saudi Arabia’s telecoms operator Mobily has selected Ciena Corp. to build a resilient, adaptable, and scalable nationwide network to address dramatic traffic growth and support the roll out of new services, while also reducing overall operational costs.
Mobily selected solutions from across Ciena’s portfolio--including Carrier Ethernet, optical transport and switching, and management and maintenance services—“to bring Ethernet services to the network edge and integrate packet-optical switching and transport through the network core,” according to a company representative.
The Middle East is driving growth across the telecommunications landscape, with increases in mobile and fixed broadband penetration, regional IT projects, and investments in new regional and international markets. Mobily realized the need for a substantial infrastructure investment and selected solutions from Ciena to form the foundation of its new network.
“With applications such as video, teleconferencing, and cloud computing driving bandwidth growth, there is an ever-rising demand for capacity in the Middle East,” says Yasser Alobaidan, Ciena’s country manager for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Ciena’s Packet-Optical Transport platforms are expected to provide up to a tenfold capacity increase, enabling Mobily to scale its network to support the delivery of advanced services and applications. Ciena’s Packet-Optical Switching solutions will use OTN and distributed intelligence to increase network automation and resiliency. A range of switches from Ciena’s Carrier Ethernet Service Delivery portfolio will also enable the operator to support Carrier Ethernet-based mobile backhaul, as well as Ethernet aggregation and delivery of high-velocity business and transport Carrier Ethernet services to its customer base.
“As our capacity needs and services portfolio mature, our Ciena-based, next-generation network will be instrumental in ensuring we address our customers’ critical business challenges and evolving demands, from the network edge all the way through to the core,” says Abdul Aziz Al Tamami, chief operations officer at Mobily. “We selected Ciena for its ability to extend the value of our current network investment, while providing a seamless upgrade path to 100 Gbps and a smooth transition to OTN, positioning us well for further growth in high-bandwidth services.”
Based on packet-optical transport and switching technologies, Mobily’s upgraded core and metro network architecture will combine Ciena’s ActivFlex 6500 Packet-Optical Platform and ActivFlex 5430 Reconfigurable Switching System for an initial transport capacity increase of up to 40 Gbps per wavelength, with an upgrade path to 100 Gbps as bandwidth requirements change over time.
Converging layers zero, one, and two, the Ciena platforms will also enable Mobily to deploy a combination of TDM and data services, while providing a migration path to a fully packet-switched environment, including packet-optical switching capacity increases of up to 3.6 Tbps of capacity that can scale up to 15 Tbps as the carrier’s requirements evolve.
Mobily’s network will also take advantage of Ciena’s LE-311v Service Delivery Switch, ActivEdge 5410 Service Aggregation Switch, and ActivEdge 3900 series of Service Delivery Switches to support Carrier Ethernet-based mobile backhaul and Ethernet business services. Mobily will leverage network management and maintenance services from Ciena’s Specialist Services practice.