Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) says customer Southern Cross Cable Ltd. has successfully transmitted at least one 800-Gbps wavelength between two data centers on the U.S. West Coast. The transmission, which was performed over a live production network, leveraged Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) coherent optics technology. The technology supplier has touted 800G as the top end of the WL5e’s capabilities (see “Ciena touts WaveLogic 5 for 800-Gbps coherent transmission”).
Southern Cross operates two transpacific submarine cable systems that, combined, connect Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Hawaii to the mainland United States via 28,900 km of undersea cables and 1,600 km of terrestrial fiber cables. It has a third submarine network under construction, dubbed Southern Cross NEXT. This 72-Tbps submarine cable is due for completion by the end of 2021 (see "Construction of Southern Cross NEXT submarine cable set to begin").
Meanwhile, as part of a network upgrade effort, Southern Cross is expected to begin volume deployments of WL5e capabilities in the second quarter of this year. Southern Cross is leveraging Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme portfolio, which now includes the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform powered by the WL5e (see "Southern Cross Cables upgrades submarine network with Ciena GeoMesh Extreme"). When completed, the upgrade will upgrade Southern Cross’s submarine cable network infrastructure by more than 40X over the original design, which was based on 2.5-Gbps wavelengths.
“Transforming and modernizing our networks to support next-generation applications and growing bandwidth demands is an ongoing process. Working with Ciena and adapting our network again with their latest coherent optical solution illustrates our commitment to consistently optimizing our assets to be smarter and more efficient,” commented Laurie Miller, President and CEO, Southern Cross Cables. “In today’s increasingly hyper-connected world, delivering an incredible customer experience depends on the ability of Southern Cross to create innovative services and provide the capacity needed to meet constantly changing demands. Ciena’s WL5e technology once again allows us to deliver on that ambition.”
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