Windstream Cranks Up its 100G Long-haul Express Net with Infinera

Windstream has begun deployment of phase two of its 100G long-haul express network, which leverages Infinera’s optical transport platform. Windstream operates a nationwide fiber and IP network as well as 27 data centers.

Phase two of the 100G long-haul express network rollout covers about 4,100 miles and is scheduled to be complete by year’s end. It includes routes from Chicago to Omaha, Kansas City and St. Louis; Cleveland to Albany, N.Y.; Boston, New York City and Philadelphia; Atlanta to Charlotte and Ashburn, Va.; and Monroe, La., to Memphis.

Phase one of the project, announced in March, covers about 5,300 miles. It included routes from St. Louis to Chicago, Indianapolis, Lexington, Ky.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Atlanta, Memphis and Dallas; and from Chicago to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, the District of Columbia and Ashburn, Va.

Infinera’s Intelligent Transport Network features the industry’s only commercially available single-card 500 Gb/s FlexCoherent super-channels based on Infinera's widely deployed photonic integrated circuits. This provides Windstream with a solution integrating DWDM optical transmission and non-blocking OTN switching in a single platform. Infinera's intelligent software combined with this converged platform automates manual operations to lower operational costs and enable faster service delivery. The Infinera DTN-X is designed to scale without compromise to single-card terabit super-channels and Terabit Ethernet in the future.

“Windstream, with our ‘smart solutions, personalized service’ brand promise, is committed to meeting the rapidly expanding data needs of our enterprise customers, and our high-capacity, low-latency long-haul network reflects that commitment,” said Randy Nicklas, executive vice president of engineering and chief technology officer for Windstream. “The Infinera platform we are deploying enables Windstream to rapidly provision network services that support our customers’ critical applications in a highly reliable and secure way.”

http://www.windstream.com