Verizon Business to build ULH network in Europe, selects Nortel optical equipment

NOVEMBER 15, 2007 -- Verizon Business (search for Verizon Business) says it will begin an aggressive rollout of its next-generation optical transport network in Europe next month. The first phase will include ultra long-haul (ULH) equipment deployed on the core backbone network routes between Verizon Business' main European network hubs in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, and Brussels, providing the first 3,230 kilometers of ULH transport in the Verizon Business European network.

Verizon Business says this next-generation technology, which will support speeds up to 40 Gbits/sec, will give its customers in Europe an opportunity to use new high-bandwidth intensive services for years to come. The first phase of ULH deployment is scheduled to be completed during the first quarter of 2008.

"Deploying ultra long-haul technology on our core network in Europe will give our Verizon Business customers the opportunity to move to wavelength services as well as grow their use of Web-based applications and high-speed Ethernet solutions," reports Joe Cook, Verizon Business vice president of global network engineering and planning.

"Because our large-business customers rely on our network 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, we've designed this European network with enough capacity to meet their needs in this new data-intensive world," he continues. "Our ULH technology has enough capacity to meet that growth with the continued explosion of high-bandwidth applications such as video, wireless, high-speed Internet, Web services, multimedia content distribution, real-time imaging, storage networking and more."

Among the ULH benefits, the network supports integrated optical transport and enables photonic switching of wavelengths for network restoration and shorter customer provisioning intervals. The ULH strategy also allows Verizon Business to extend the signal reach without regeneration equipment, reducing operational expenses as well as the number of active components in the network, say company representatives.

The use of ULH allows large business and government customer traffic on the ULH network to receive an improved level of resiliency, better network performance, reduced latency, and high network availability, claims Verizon Business.

In a related announcement, Verizon Business has revealed that Nortel (search for Nortel) will provide optical equipment for the pan-European ULH network.

Nortel Global Services is assisting with the deployment, providing turn-key installation services for Verizon Business. It will also include support for integration into existing management systems and Network Operation Center (NOC) facilities.

The Verizon Business optical network is based on the Optical Multiservice Edge 6500, a next-generation optical convergence platform, which features Nortel's unique electronic Dynamically Compensating Optics (eDCO). According to the company, eDCO simplifies networking by extending 40-Gbit/sec wavelengths over thousands of kilometers without requiring dispersion compensation modules.

Verizon Business is also using the Common Photonic Layer (CPL), which enables the migration to a more agile, adaptive, all-optical intelligent network, say Nortel representatives. Nortel's reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexing (ROADM) technology will provide operational simplicity and network agility for the addition and routing of new services. In addition, the Nortel Optical Network Manager will provide the required operations, administration, and management for the network, advanced network and service management, and network planning tools for end-to-end wavelength layer management, reports the company.

"Verizon Business has taken a bold, forward-looking approach to building out its network," contends Philippe Morin, president, Metro Ethernet Networks, Nortel. "It provides the ability to deliver the bandwidth capacity that service providers and businesses require today and the critical ability to evolve seamlessly to 40G when needed. Of course, the true beneficiaries are the end-users who will be able to take advantage of future high-bandwidth services and applications to meet their growing business needs throughout Europe," he adds.

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