July 18, 2005 Sunnyvale, CA -- Citynet, a wholesale inter-exchange carrier serving the domestic Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern markets, today announced that it has deployed Infinera's DTN platform across a significant portion of its network. The carrier says the deployment follows a nine-month lab and field trial of the company's hardware, software, and EMS components.
"Network reliability is the cornerstone of our wholesale services, and we recognize that our clients entrust their brand equity to Citynet," remarks Mike Friloux, COO of Citynet Wholesale. "Infinera's platform proved to be more than capable of meeting our stringent requirements."
The carrier says it selected Infinera's platform because of the strategic advantages offered by the company's "digital optical networking" technology. According to the carrier, such advantages include the delivery of high-bandwidth optical services more quickly and flexibly than competitive platforms, the capability to offer services such as 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE), and improved network reliability and service manageability.
Infinera says its DTN platform combines DWDM, digital bandwidth management, and GMPLS-based network intelligence. The company says platform supports 800-Gbit/sec of DWDM capacity and delivers a variety of manageable and protectable SONET/SDH and Ethernet-based services, including 10-GbE LAN PHY. Incorporating proprietary "photonic integrated circuit" (PIC) technology, Infinera says the platform will support the carrier's increased demand for optical wavelength (2.5 - 10-Gbit/sec), private line (DS-3, OC-192, and Ethernet), and IP-based service offerings. The platform runs the company's IQ Network Operating System, which makes its digital bandwidth management possible, providing performance monitoring capabilities, and supporting automated network discovery, configuration, and provisioning via GMPLS.
"We see Infinera's photonic integrated circuits as the most innovative technology in optical networking since WDM emerged in the mid-1990s. Infinera's DTN allows us to drop any amount of our core bandwidth at any location on our network, bypassing the restrictive features of legacy analog-based DWDM systems," continues Friloux. "This translates into more bandwidth options for our customers while maximizing the returns of our growth capital. The strategic value for us is a highly adaptive infrastructure that allows us to shape, groom, and distribute our bandwidth based on the changing demands of our customers."
The company says its PIC product architecture converts all optical traffic at a given location into electronic signals, which can then be digitally processed. This digital bandwidth management capability is the basis of the company's digital optical networking concept, which the company says results in simpler planning, engineering, and operations; faster service delivery; and more reliable and flexible networks.
"We were able to install, test, and turn up our first 1100 kilometer ring in three days. Other systems would have required at least four to five times as long," notes Friloux. "But, most importantly, adding new customer circuits is extremely fast and easy. With Infinera's digital add/drop and GMPLS-based provisioning, we can rapidly deliver big bandwidth to our customers, when and where they need it."
"Given Citynet's experience with wholesale private line and optical wave services, as well as their position as a key partner to many carriers, they immediately saw the advantages of a digital optical network," concludes Jagdeep Singh, CEO of Infinera. "We're pleased to help them further enhance their service offerings."