Verizon lights 200G on part of its long-haul network

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has implemented what it says is the first office application (FOA) of Ciena's 200G technology over about 200 miles on its long-haul production network between Boston and New York.

Provisioned earlier this month, Verizon claims the trial proved that 200G technology successfully works with existing network infrastructure without impacting live customer traffic carried on the same network and without making costly modifications to existing fiber or network equipment.

"Moving toward 200G technology is critical to stay ahead of traffic growth driven by activities such as online video, LTE 4G and cloud usage," said Ed Chan, senior vice president of network infrastructure planning at Verizon, in a release.

Similar to the previous 200G trial Verizon completed in 2013 with Ciena, this FOA application also used Ciena's WaveLogic coherent optical capabilities. According to Ciena, the coherent WaveLogic technology allows service providers like Verizon to carry more information on a single wavelength while increasing the distance it can be sent without additional loss of signal quality.

In addition, the FOA validated the ability for Verizon to double spectral efficiency by using 16QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) on a single wavelength with the typical 50 GHz channel spacing to increase the amount of traffic carried. One of the benefits of the 16QAM technology is that it doubles the number of bits per wavelength, allowing for twice the data to be encoded when compared with standard 100G technology.

Completing this trial is part of Verizon's ongoing movement to bring higher speed optical solutions into the long-haul and metro segments of its network, a process it began in 2009.

Complementing its long-haul capabilities, the service provider is also moving to develop Ethernet-based products that can deliver speeds of 100G and beyond. In July, Verizon completed a trial carrying 100G traffic over its regional network between two 100G network interface devices (NID), enabling one of its wholesale customers, Splice Communications, to provide connectivity to data center provider CyrusOne.

For more:
- see the release

Related articles:
Verizon wraps 100G Ethernet network interface device trial
UPDATED: Verizon takes 100G optical into its metro networks
Verizon, NEC conduct Terabit speed optical transmission field trial
OIF puts Ethernet over OTN on display at Interoperability 2012 event