Fujitsu expands 100G optical service in the UK

Fujitsu says it has expanded its 100G high-speed fiber-optic network in the UK with an additional 2,500 km of dark fiber. The expansion enables true 100-Gbps data across Fujitsu’s managed wavelength service (MWS), ensuring Fujitsu customers can benefit from a carrier-grade, high-capacity, low-latency network that is capable of supporting the most demanding service, communication and high performance computing tasks.

With access to more than 6,000 km of dark fiber in partnership with UK collocation data center operator SSE, the network provides connectivity between Fujitsu’s data centers and many strategic UK-wide collocation facilities interconnecting with all major Tier 1 and Tier 2 telecommunications and Internet service providers.

“This significant expansion is a direct response to customers’ increasing demand to transport very-high-bandwidth data faster and further than ever before,” said Andy Stevenson, executive director, hosting and network solutions, Fujitsu UK & Ireland. “An effective infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) begins and ends with the network; the true benefits can only be realized if the interconnect between enterprise and data center does not present a bottleneck. Fujitsu’s longstanding optical heritage ensures that customers get the fastest and most resilient service available today.”

The network has been designed using the 100G Agile Core platform from ADVA Optical Networking (FSE: ADV) with flexible reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs), enabling real-time wavelength provisioning and switching across the core network. Customers receive a number of benefits through this flexibility, including bandwidth-on-demand, which enables customers to adjust network requirements on-the-fly, based on changing business needs.

Christian Unterberger, chief sales and marketing officer at ADVA Optical Networking, said, "The core is one of the most critical aspects of any network. It needs to be able to scale rapidly and respond to incredible data demands. What Fujitsu is building is something special; it brings true 100G connectivity to the UK's enterprises and this is a game changer. The potential here is phenomenal, especially when we consider future growth to 400G and beyond."

Fujitsu says it has worked strategically with ADVA Optical Networking for more than six years in the UK.

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