TeliaSonera International Carrier (TSIC), TeliaSonera's wholesale arm, has completed its 100G network buildouts in Europe and North America.
Following the upgrade of its 23-city North American network to 100G in November 2012, TSIC built a complementary pan-European 100G network stretching from Madrid to Moscow.
As it looks to provide what it says will be a "seamless 100G enabled network encompassing Europe and North America," TSIC is examining how it can upgrade its trans-Atlantic connection to 100G.
Similar to other large incumbent service providers, including CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL), TSIC is taking a dual vendor approach to 100G.
The European 100G network is based on Nokia Siemens Networks--now Coriant's--hiT 7300 platform, while the U.S. network is based on Infinera's (Nasdaq: INFN) DTN-X platform. Serving a mix of traditional carriers and content providers that are furthering their presence in North America, TSIC's U.S. network is based on fiber purchased from WilTel in the late 1990s. In 2009, TSIC deployed Infinera's DTN platform to provide 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps wavelength services.
TSIC said that the "dual-vendor stance is part of maintaining the independence of TeliaSonera's network and its ability to adapt to ever-changing and ever-increasing market demands."
While the 100G-based services is still at an early stage, Ivo Pascucci, head of sales, Americas, TeliaSonera International Carrier, said in an previous interview with FierceTelecom that they are seeing "demand for 100 Gig capacity materializing in the market with all of the efficiencies that that brings in terms of cross connects in managing one connection versus 10 or 20 on a connection."
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