Sumitomo Electric Lightwave: Transit Tunnel Optical Network Solution

Sumitomo Electric Lightwave (SEL) developed its Transit Tunnel Optical Networking Solutions to help customers expand their broadband infrastructure and subscriber base in urban areas. SEL’s solutions overcome the challenges inherent in densely populated last-mile fiber deployments, such as limited space, complex utility layouts, and costly, disruptive surface-level construction. With SEL’s Transit Tunnel Optical Network Solutions, transit operators can leverage their cities’ often-overlooked, existing tunnel systems to quickly and cost-effectively expand their fiber optic infrastructure in a weather-protected environment without impacting the flow of city life overhead. Additionally, these solutions offer SEL’s customers an additional path to revenue generation by leasing fiber to underserved areas along the existing transit footprint. With little to no additional deployment time, pathways, or labor, transit operators deploying SEL’s Transit Tunnel Optical Network Solutions can lay "dark fiber" into their existing tunnels and lease strands to local service providers and businesses.
JUDGE'S COMMENT: "An ingenious solution for an environment that often is overlooked by municipal planners and others."