TeliaSonera IC completes major North American expansion

TeliaSonera International Carrier (TSIC) says it has completed a major North American network expansion, adding 11,500 fiber route miles (18,400 km) to the carrier’s global backbone. This expansion will extend TISC’s reach to 44 American cities by December 31, 2014, and will also provide diverse connectivity into South America, where TSIC is experiencing rapid growth.

“Today’s end users want everything, anywhere, instantly. This expansion is about supporting that and the increasing interest for our offering in the Americas,” said Erik Hallberg, president, TSIC. “In fact, it’s our largest network build-out in the Americas since our first U.S. fiber investment in 2000. It strengthens our global backbone and demonstrates our commitment to be ready to carry the big ideas of tomorrow.”

TSIC says it has, over the last 13 years, expanded its fiber-optic network with American customers who value high-performance, business-critical connectivity. The carrier has added 50 new, large-scale customers this year alone. Building on this success, it has taken the next step with a significant superchannel- based network expansion of 11,500 fiber miles.

Presumably that means more business for Infinera Corp. (NASDAQ: INFN), which was named as TeliaSonera’s U.S. optical transport systems vendor in 2009 (see "TeliaSonera taps Infinera for US network"). In September, the pair tested soft-decision forward-error correction on the U.S. network (see “Infinera demos superchannel SD-FEC with TeliaSonera International Carrier”).

“This build is a significant step and our customers will be able to take advantage of new opportunities that come from the expanded reach, increased diversity and optimized performance it delivers. It’s especially exciting for our fast-growing Latin American business,” said Ivo Pascucci, sales director, Americas, TeliaSonera International Carrier.

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