24/7 Mid-Atlantic Network, an emerging fiber network provider serving the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. metro area, is enhancing its fiber network to support 100G transport and Ethernet services by deploying Ciena's (Nasdaq: CIEN) 6500 Packet-Optical Platform.
Providing lit transport services marks a new chapter for the service provider, which has up till now offered colocation and dark fiber services.
Sean Baillie, chief revenue officer at 24/7, said that deploying the 6500 Platform will enable it meet its customer's requirements for "flexible service options, fast quote turnaround, competitive pricing, and rapid installations."
Being able to rapidly respond to potentially new customer needs is a priority for the company as it will deal with a host of other players in the Washington, D.C., and Virginia area such as Lightower Fiber Networks and Lumos Networks (Nasdaq: LMOS) that are also building out area long haul and metro networks.
Lightower recently completed a 1,500-route mile extension of its fiber network that has routes throughout Virginia and the D.C. metro region that its predecessor Sidera Networks began building before the two companies merged earlier this year. Likewise, Lumos Networks began building 100G optical wavelength routes connecting Richmond to Ashburn and Lynchburg in Virginia.
Set to go live this December, 24/7 is building core routes that will interconnect Baltimore, D.C., and Ashburn.
Over these routes, the service provider said that it will offer a 24-hour turnup guarantee on 10G services. In addition to its long-haul networks, 24/7 has built out metro networks in Baltimore and D.C. a footprint that includes thousands of near-net buildings and extensive reach throughout the data center community in Ashburn.
For more:
- see the release
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