Verizon to deploy Alcatel-Lucent's wavelength routing technology on its long-haul network

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is moving to beef up its long-haul network in the United States by deploying Alcatel-Lucent's (NYSE: ALU) wavelength routing technology, a move that it says will give it more flexibility to scale its network while automating its ability to seek out network faults.

By deploying this technology, Verizon will be able to adjust wavelength connections, automate tasks on a wide scale and identify and route around faults in fiber infrastructure along its long-haul network routes.

These new capabilities are available on Alcatel-Lucent's 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS), which Verizon is deploying on its long-haul network. The service provider chose Alcatel-Lucent's 1830 PSS converged WDM/OTN/Packet based-platform as part of a broader move to transition to an optical converged infrastructure to address traffic growth and enable faster and less expensive deployment of new services.

A key component of the wavelength routing solution is the CDC-F hardware and Wave Routing Engine (WRE) software. The WRE software provides wavelength routing, deployment and management capabilities, including in-band per wavelength OAM capabilities to allow for monitoring of wavelength connectivity and support the rapid diagnosis and troubleshooting of potential wavelength connectivity issues.

Another element of the new equipment is that includes CDC-F (Colorless Directionless Contentionless-FlexGrid), which Alcatel-Lucent says is the foundation for its wavelength routing technology.

Besides the management network capabilities, Alcatel-Lucent claims that its system can help operators like Verizon maintain costs by allowing them to scale wavelengths from 100 to 200G and beyond without having to change existing equipment.

This is a much needed win for Alcatel-Lucent, which was not chosen for its recent metro 100G network build. The long-haul network enhancement news comes on the heels of Verizon's naming Ciena and Cisco as the vendor partners to revamp its metro 100G network. In that network, the deployment of those two vendors is part of a broader initiative it is taking to modernize its metro optical network, by replacing legacy TDM-based infrastructure with packet-based optical transport capabilities.

 For more:
- see the release

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