Orange sends 38.4 Tbps over 762 km

French incumbent service provider Orange has transmitted 38.4 Tbps from Lyon to Marseille and back, a distance of 762 km (472 miles). The optical transmission, conducted as part of the European CELTIC-Plus project SASER (SAfe European and Secure Routing) project, relied on hybrid Raman/Erbium optical amplification technology jointly developed by Ekinops (Euronext Paris - FR0011466069 - EKI) and Keopsys SA.

The trial took place over the course of several weeks using Orange's operational fiber-optic network.

The SASER effort began in August 2012 and is slated to wrap up this September. It seeks to develop scientific, technical, and technological concepts and technology for secure optical transport networks in the 2020 time frame. While the announcement of the transmission record did not provide additional details, the trial appears to be part of the SASER-SIEGFRIED sub-project, of which all three companies are a part. That project seeks to correct the security vulnerabilities of today's IP-layer networks within SASER's 2020 time frame. Part of the project's strategy is to move as much data transmission as possible out of the IP layer to lower layers.

For Orange, the trial had the additional benefit of proving its network could accommodate such transmission rates.

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