Tuesday, March 8, 2005

MCI Deploys Ultra Long Haul Transmission Technology

MCI has deployed Ultra Long Haul (ULH) network technology on 3,129 route miles of its network, a key milestone in its ULH Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) network expansion strategy. The network routes include New York City to Cleveland, Chicago to Denver (via Omaha), and Salt Lake City to Los Angeles (via Sacramento).


MCI said the ULH deployment will enable OC-768 capacity. ULH is also expected to lead to long-term CAPEX savings, as 70% of the network equipment components are removed from the physical plant. When the multiyear ULH network project is completed, MCI will have
32,000 miles of ULH network deployed throughout the U.S.
http://www.mci.com

  • In June 2004, MCI, working in collaboration with CIENA and Mintera Corp., established a 40 Gbps connection across a long haul route spanning 1,200 km. The technology trial took place over MCI's ultra long haul DWDM route between Sacramento, California and Salt Lake City, Utah. This network route was selected because it uses the company's existing fiber plant, and includes a mix of fiber -- TrueWave Classic, Dispersion Shifted Fiber (DSF), Long Span Fiber (LS) and Single Mode Fiber (SMF). Mintera's 40 Gbps DWDM fiber optic transport terminals interoperated directly on CIENA's CoreStream Agility optical transport system, which provides an automated ULH backbone for the MCI network. The companies said the 40 Gbps wavelength was commissioned in less than an hour, and then performed error-free on the same optical fibers already carrying 10 Gbps wavelengths throughout the trial.