TIM Brasil, Xtera deploy 100G optical network over 2400 km

Oct. 21, 2013
TIM Brasil, the Brazilian subsidiary of Telecom Italia Mobile, says it selected and deployed 100G optical networking equipment from Xtera Communications, Inc. on a long-haul optical transmission infrastructure connecting three Amazon states in the northern part of Brazil by their capitals: Manaus, Macapá, and Belém.

TIM Brasil, the Brazilian subsidiary of Telecom Italia Mobile, says it selected and deployed 100G optical networking equipment from Xtera Communications, Inc. on a long-haul optical transmission infrastructure connecting three Amazon states in the northern part of Brazil by their capitals: Manaus, Macapá, and Belém.

The Amazon region is one of the less well-connected parts of the world, but it looks as if that’s starting to change. This is the second 100G announcement in the region inside a week (see “Huawei helps Vivo deploy WDM links across the Amazon”).

Xtera says the Nu-Wave Optima 100G optical networking platform offers both high capacity and long-span capabilities to help TIM Brasil expand reach and increase the capacity of its optical transmission network through the Amazon Region in Brazil.

The new fiber-optic network backbone was built using the tower transmission lines and power substations of the LT Amazon consortium, which transport the TIM Brasil cables across 27 cities in the states of Amazonas, Pará, and Amapá. Given the challenging geography of this network environment, five out of the 14 spans between sites where active optical equipment is positioned exceed 200 km in length. The longest of these spans reaches nearly 260 km.

“The construction of the first 100G backbone in the Amazon is an innovative and challenging project, connecting one of the most important cities in the Amazon region – Manaus – that will host 2014 FIFA World Cup,” said Cicero Olivieri, director of fixed and transport network of TIM Brazil. “This project will bring many benefits to the regional population and reinforces the commitment of TIM for expanding and improving its network throughout Brazil.”

He added, “We are pleased with the performance of Xtera’s technology, highlighted by the long-span capability and the minimal number of regeneration sites throughout the network, and with their commitment to take on the challenges inherent to any deployment in the Amazon Region.”

Manuel Andrade, senior vice president of sales in the Americas for Xtera added, “In the past years, Xtera has equipped multiple optical networks built on OPGW cable and transmission towers coming from power utilities. In addition to the technological challenge of long spans this project presented, given the geography, an exceptional logistics challenge that we addressed by close cooperation with TIM Brasil and our local implementation partners Tellabs do Brasil.”

Xtera’s Nu-Wave Optima platform is a modular optical transport system designed to lower the total cost of ownership by using a common, integrated set of modules for long-haul, unrepeatered and regional repeatered submarine applications. For terrestrial backbone networks, the Nu-Wave Optima equipment delivers a line capacity of 15 Tbps over more than 3000 km with no intermediate regeneration, Xterea asserts. For unrepeatered applications, a capacity of 8x100G was recently transmitted over a 481-km cable.

For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.