Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Windstream tests 400GbE QSFP-DD customers interfaces with Infinera

Windstream Wholesale and Infinera demonstrated 400GbE client-side services with commercially available ultra-efficient 400GbE-LR8 QSFP-DD compact pluggable interfaces.

The trial leveraged Infinera’s commercially available 2x 600G Wavelength muxponder on its Groove (GX) G30 Compact Modular Platform with the CHM-2T sled, which enabled the customer-facing 400GbE service to be transmitted using a single-carrier 600G wavelength.

Windstream Wholesale said it is currently engaging with customers for initial deployment of the end-to-end 400G Wave service.

“We’re excited to partner with Windstream and leverage the power and flexibility of our 600G Wavelength technology to deliver enhanced high-speed services,” said Glenn Laxdal, SVP, GM of Product Management, Infinera. “The ability to support 400GbE services with a wide-variety of client interfaces and to carry those services across metro, regional and long-haul distances enables Windstream to seamlessly support their customers’ evolving connectivity needs.”

“Our customers’ bandwidth requirements are growing rapidly, and Windstream is increasing network capacity to meet this demand,” said Buddy Bayer, chief network officer at Windstream. “Infinera’s GX G30 Compact Modular Platform provides an ultra-efficient transport solution enabling us to offer 400GbE services to support our customers’ high-bandwidth needs. The use of LR8 clients with a single mode fiber interface and a 10-kilometer reach provides an extremely cost-effective solution by enabling us to extend these services directly to our customers’ premises.”

https://www.windstreamenterprise.com/wholesale/interactive-map

Windstream adds to long-haul with Infinera’s FlexILS Line System

Windstream Wholesale will add over 1,000 miles to its Next Gen flexible ultra-long-haul fiber network using Infinera’s FlexILS line system.

The route from Salt Lake City to Portland and Seattle will provide diverse, low-latency connectivity to markets in the Pacific Northwest.

Windstream also announced that, as part of an ongoing program to enhance its long-haul network, it has increased the capacity of several major routes to 48 Tbps.

The overlay is powered by Infinera’s FlexILS line system. The flexible grid-compliant open optical line system features C+L-band support and colorless-directionless-contentionless (CDC) ROADM.

“Our new route to the Pacific Northwest, along with the overlay of existing routes with Infinera’s FlexILS technology, is a response to increasing customer demand for bandwidth,” said Joe Scattareggia, executive vice president of Windstream Wholesale. “These ongoing initiatives pave the way for Windstream Wholesale to meet customers’ needs for high-quality, low-latency services across our most popular routes for years to come.”

“We are delighted to support Windstream with solutions that enable them to meet their customers’ evolving need for high-bandwidth, low-latency services,” said Nick Walden, senior vice president, worldwide sales, Infinera. “Infinera’s uniquely scalable C+L solution is an ideal fit to meet Windstream’s initiatives for future bandwidth needs by significantly increasing and, in some cases, more than doubling capacity on its existing fiber links.

Windstream Wholesale previously announced an overlay of its Dallas to Atlanta route.

Windstream signs its largest wavelengths deal

Windstream Wholesale signed its largest capacity wavelengths deal to date. A major hyperscale customer (unnamed) will purchase wavelengths to interconnect data centers in key cities in the United States.

Windstream said this deal, combined with additional wave capacity contracted in October, represents 5.7 terabits of capacity – the most sold in any single month at Windstream Wholesale.

Windstream Wholesale’s coast-to-coast long-haul and regional express fiber-optic network provides high-speed optical Wavelengths to support today’s massive data demands stemming from cloud computing, multimedia and bandwidth intensive applications. Our optical Wavelengths service features unique, diverse routes with high-speed connections from attractive Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets back to the most popular carrier hotels, data centers, cable landing stations and 1,200+ 1G to 100G capable POPs in Tier 1 markets in the country.