Verizon announced that it moved 1.6T bps of data on its live fiber network – across a single-carrier wavelength – as part of a recent trial in Boston. It used Ciena’ WaveLogic 6 Extreme coherent optical solution. The next-gen technology allows data traveling across Verizon’s fiber network to travel farther and faster, leading to higher reliability, energy savings in that portion of the fiber network and improved CX.
“AI is contingent on analyzing billions of data points in real-time on an ongoing basis,” said Adam Koeppe, SVP of technology strategy and planning, Verizon. “Because of the massive, multi-year transformation on Verizon’s network including deploying cloud native architecture from the core to the edge, deploying massive amounts of high-performing spectrum, exponentially increasing the capacity of our fiber infrastructure and deploying advanced technologies and intelligence throughout the network, Verizon’s network provides the ability to power the processes and movements of AI-generated activity. This continued advancement of our fiber network will further position us to be the provider of choice for AI workloads now and in the future.”
The trial took place over a 118 km Boston metro route that consisted of 10 hops, and passed through nine reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers (ROADMs). The trial over this live metro network validated the performance of 1.6 T bps, using WL6e in a flexible, dense ROADM environment.
Ciena’s WL6e is the industry’s first high-bandwidth coherent transceiver using state-of-the-art 3nm silicon to drive operator economic benefits, including reduced space and power per bit. WL6e provides 1.6T bps, single-carrier wavelengths for metro ROADM deployments, and maximizes network coverage for 800G connectivity.
“Ciena’s WL6e is designed to cater to AI traffic growth and the continuing surge in bandwidth-intensive applications,” said Brodie Gage, SVP, global products and supply chain, Ciena. “WL6e uses coherent DSP innovations to provide the highest capacity over fiber, which will support Verizon’s throughput and capacity goals, supporting more traffic and faster speeds than ever before.”
In addition to advancing Verizon’s fiber infrastructure to manage greater workloads, this next-gen technology offers energy savings compared to previous generations. According to Ciena estimates, the power efficiency of WL6e translates to an 86 percent cut in emissions, per TB of capacity, delivered (kgCO2e/Tb) compared to previously deployed technology.
