Windstream Wholesale, Infinera trial LR8-based 400GbE client-side services delivery

April 7, 2020

Windstream Wholesale says it is now engaging with customers for initial deployment of the end-to-end 400G Wave service.

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Windstream Wholesale and Infinera (NASDAQ: INFN) have collaborated on what the companies assert is the first successful demonstration of 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) client-side services with commercially available 400GbE-LR8 QSFP-DD pluggable optical modules. The trial leveraged Infinera’s 600-Gbps enabled Groove (GX) G30 Compact Modular Platform.

Coriant, which originally developed the Groove platform, announced 600-Gbps capabilities for the system shortly before the company was acquired by Infinera in 2018 (see “Coriant adds 600G transmission to Groove via CloudWave T” and “Infinera closes Coriant acquisition”). In the trial, a G30 version of the Groove was fitted with a 2x600G per wavelength muxponder via a CHM-2T sled. The 400GbE service was carried via a single-carrier 600-Gbps wavelength.

Windstream Wholesale says it is now engaging with customers for initial deployment of the end-to-end 400G Wave service. “Our customers’ bandwidth requirements are growing rapidly, and Windstream is increasing network capacity to meet this demand,” said Buddy Bayer, chief network officer at Windstream. “Infinera’s GX G30 Compact Modular Platform provides an ultra-efficient transport solution enabling us to offer 400GbE services to support our customers’ high-bandwidth needs. The use of LR8 clients with a single-mode fiber interface and a 10-km reach provides an extremely cost-effective solution by enabling us to extend these services directly to our customers’ premises.”

“We’re excited to partner with Windstream and leverage the power and flexibility of our 600G/wavelength technology to deliver enhanced high-speed services,” said Glenn Laxdal, SVP, GM of Product Management, Infinera. “The ability to support 400GbE services with a wide variety of client interfaces and to carry those services across metro, regional, and long-haul distances enables Windstream to seamlessly support their customers’ evolving connectivity needs.”

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.