COMLINK turns up first 100G service

COMLINK, which provides network, voice and cloud services throughout the U.S. Midwest, says it has turned up a managed services connection for its first 100G customer, a large carrier. The service provider said it was able to provision the link on its fiber-optic network in less than six weeks.

"This is the largest capacity circuit turned up by COMLINK, and one of the few in the state," said Bill Goodfellow, vice president of network for the company. "The customer will benefit because they will be able to transport huge amounts of data faster and more efficiently rather than using multiple 10G or 1G circuits."

COMLINK is using Transmode's TM-Series platform to produce the 100G service, which is carried as an alien wavelength over a 10G ROADM network constructed with Cyan's Z-Series systems (see "COMLINK employs Cyan’s Blue Planet SDN system in new data center").

The company says that interest among its service provider customers in metro 100G circuits to connect data centers, headends, and other facilities is growing.

"The reach and reliability of COMLINK's fiber network means we are able to quickly provision high-speed transport for carriers, multi-location enterprise networks, and content providers that require secure, dedicated bandwidth for data transport between locations whether locally in the metro or in the middle mile between cities and even states," said John Summersett, COMLINK's COO. "For customers that need cost-efficient, low-latency connectivity, COMLINK's network provides the fastest path to success."

Transmode says COMLINK first indicated interest in 100G technology last November. The ability of the TM-Series to support the sort of rapid service turn-up demonstrated with this initial customer was a primary factor in winning the business. Transmode says it was able to have the 100G capabilities ready for service in less than a month between initial discussions and commissioning.

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