Lightower Fiber Networks is putting its 100G network to work with a series of 100G-capable optical services, including Ethernet and managed wavelengths, for its enterprise and service provider customers. Having previously built out a 100G network backbone between Boston and New York City, Lightower will now offer both 40-Gigabit and 100-Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) services as well as 100G managed wavelengths.
Following early trials in late 2009 with the former Nortel's optical solutions, which Ciena (Nasdaq: CIEN) acquired in 2010, this latest service drive also leverages the vendor's 6500 Packet-Optical Platform with coherent optical processors.
Rob Shanahan, President and CEO of Lightower, admits that while he has not seen an immediate demand for 100G services, he wants those capabilities in house to be ready when the demand comes.
"We implemented a 100G backbone on our network from Boston to New York City on our existing backbone," he told FierceTelecom. "We don't have any takers for it yet, but at some point we're going to see customers looking for 100 Gig transport. With that in mind, we engineered the network so we can deliver that service."
Shanahan added that at this point it has been selling multiple 10 Gbps circuits on a 40G backbone.
The service provider said the new optical gear's incorporation of coherent optics will enable its customers in various industry verticals, including media, finance, telecom, healthcare and government, to scale their bandwidth allocation as needed.
For the financial industry in particular the support of 40 GbE and 100 GbE services will help it better support its Ultra-Low Latency Network that currently links 15 strategic interconnection facilities in the New York and New Jersey financial markets.
For more:
- see the release
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