DECEMBER 11, 2006 -- Hargray Communications, an independent operating company serving residential and business customers in areas of South Carolina and Georgia, has deployed the CN 4200 FlexSelect Advanced Services Platform from Ciena Corp. (search for Ciena). The deployment upgrades the carrier's existing SONET network with multiservice, programmable DWDM transport and aggregation technology that increases its network capacity for VOD, HDTV, metro Ethernet, and other high-bandwidth services.
Based in Hilton Head, SC, Hargray operates a technologically advanced network and offers a diverse portfolio of residential and business services, including local and long-distance voice, Ethernet LAN, wireless, high-speed data (DSL and cable modem), and cable TV over both IPTV and HFC networks. As its portfolio of services expands and customer traffic increases driven by its bundling strategy, the company's existing OC-48 SONET network is nearing its capacity limitations. Rather than lay new fiber around its serving area, Hargray has addressed its fiber exhaustion situation using flexible, metro DWDM.
"The combination of our expanded services portfolio, more customer traffic, and rising popularity of bandwidth-intensive services is driving us to implement a smart, long-term bandwidth strategy," said Gerry Grayson, vice president of engineering for Hargray. "As a leader in DWDM technology, Ciena stands out with its CN 4200 platform and FlexSelect Architecture vision by delivering scalable, pay-as-we-grow bandwidth and reducing the cost and complexity of our network by converging the transport of our various services onto a single platform."
Hargray deployed Ciena's CN 4200 in its main central offices this past summer, initially carrying some of the existing SONET traffic and now carrying video services over dedicated Gigabit Ethernet connections. As more capacity is needed, Hargray can add more Gigabit Ethernet connections regardless of the service type that needs to be transported.
"While DWDM technology has been a staple in large telecom networks for years, the rise of triple- and quad-play services, fiber-based access networks, and heavy video traffic is creating a new market opportunity for metro DWDM as IOCs use it for fiber relief," said Mike Aquino, senior vice president of worldwide sales at Ciena. "The advanced transport capabilities of the CN 4200 provide unprecedented service flexibility and facilitate performance monitoring for all service types, making it an ideal solution for service providers looking to create new bandwidth for advanced services without having to trench streets and lay new fiber."
Ciena's CN 4200, the flagship product of its FlexSelect Architecture, is the first multiservice transport and service aggregation platform capable of supporting the migration to packet networks using future-ready technology such as ITU G.709 Optical Transport Network (OTN) for service transparency, dynamic wavelength routing featuring a hybrid ROADM solution, and remote service provisioning and management capabilities. Using software-defined service ports, it is capable of on-demand support for any transport protocol -- including SONET/SDH, Ethernet, storage (Fibre Channel, FICON, ESCON) or video -- at any speed on any available port.
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