Ciena Corp. and Vietnam Telecoms National (VTN), Vietnam’s largest service provider, have completed a next-generation 100 Gigabit per second (Gb/s) network trial on VTN’s backbone network, representing the first use of coherent 100G technology in Vietnam.
The trial proves the operator can leverage its existing network assets to cost-effectively upgrade its nationwide core backbone network as bandwidth demands continue to increase, driven in part by network traffic from voice, video, broadband, and mobile services and large-scale provincial Carrier Ethernet networks, says a spokesperson.
The trial was conducted in February 2011, spanned 500 kilometers between the cities of Vinh and Danang, and follows the recent deployment of Ciena’s coherent 40G system across VTN’s nationwide optical backbone. Using the ActivFlex 6500 packet-optical platform, VTN was able to add coherent 100G lines to its in-service network without re-engineering existing fiber routes or adding equipment.
“The successful trial of coherent 100G technology on our network provides us with a seamless upgrade path from 10G and 40G to 100G to accommodate the growth of high-bandwidth services like IPTV, broadband Internet, 3G mobile traffic, and Ethernet business services,” explains Luong Manh Hoang, managing director of VTN. “With plans to more than double our network capacity during the next few years, Ciena’s solution provides a painless evolution path to 100G through the use of proven coherent optical technology and extensive field experience.”
“The ability of our ActivFlex 6500 to carry 10G, 40G, and 100G wavelengths on a single shelf gives service providers like VTN flexibility for adding capacity to its network without disrupting existing services,” says Anthony McLachlan, vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific, Ciena. “Our unique coherent and electronic dispersion compensation technologies allow VTN to upgrade individual wavelengths to 100G with the simple addition of transponder cards, while utilizing existing fiber assets and reducing operational cost and complexity.”