JANUARY 24, 2007 -- Xtera Communications (search for Xtera), supplier of all-Raman optical transport systems, today announced that Faroese Telecom has selected Xtera to supply and deploy the transmission equipment for the SHEFA-2 submarine cable system, which provides connectivity between the Faroe Islands, Shetland, Orkney, and Scotland.
According to Xtera representatives, the network will include the world's longest high-capacity unrepeatered segment by transmitting up to 190 Gbits/sec per fiber pair over 389 km without the use of submerged repeaters or remote optically pumped amplifiers (ROPAs).
Faroese Telecom, the incumbent telecom operator of the Faroe Islands, provides wireless, wireline, and digital television services. Faroese Telecom is deploying the new unrepeatered cable network to support bandwidth-intensive applications for residential and commercial users. The cable also will be used along with existing submarine cables to insure reliable access to the rest of the world and international traffic.
The high-capacity, ultra-long unrepeatered SHEFA-2 network will be deployed using Xtera's all-Raman (search for Raman) technology, which has been used by a number of worldwide service providers over the past year to provide significant capacity upgrades on existing unrepeatered submarine systems, says the company. Xtera believes the Faroese deployment, on a new cable route, will showcase the strength of the all-Raman technology to simultaneously maximize both the reach and capacity of an unrepeatered network.
"Until very recently, repeaters would have been required to provide the planned capacity over this route, increasing both the initial and on-going operational costs of the system," explains Kristian R. Davidsen, chief executive officer of Faroese Telecom. "Xtera's all-Raman technology significantly improves the economics of the project by eliminating the need for repeaters."
Xtera's unrepeatered submarine product, Nu-Wave XLS, uses the latest technologies, including all-Raman amplification to achieve repeatered distances in excess of 500 km with an unrepeatered DWDM system, says the company. The system supports advanced IP and wavelength services (from Gigabit Ethernet to STM-256/OC-768, including STM-16/OC-48, STM-64/OC-192 and 10GbE).
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