Windstream Wholesale and Colt Technology Services recently conducted a 400G managed spectrum trial over an open line system.
During the trial, leveraged the Windstream Flex grid open line system between Chicago and Ashburn, Va., to build a 600G wavelength using their own coherent transmission system. Colt leveraged the Windstream-provided managed spectrum to deliver multiple 100GE and 400GE services, traversing nearly 1800 Kms between the business hubs.
Windtream said its Intelligent Converged Optical Network (ICON) demonstrated the advantages of its disaggregated network architecture, multi-vendor open line system scalability, and alien wave support. As part of the ICON functionality, Windstream also presented key performance metrics of the transmission network, a concept known as Layer Zero Analytics, through Windstream Wholesale’s customer portal. By providing these kinds of self-diagnostic metrics, customers are able to independently plan coherent wavelength deployments, self-diagnose service performance and assess the health of the network 24 x 7, as if they were the owner/operator of the open optical line system.
“This trial between Colt and Windstream saw Colt being able to deliver 400G and multiple 100G services over a 600G wavelength using our next-gen transmission system and Windstream’s spectrum offering in a fully integrated way,” said Vivek Gaur, Vice President - Network Engineering for Colt. “Colt has been investing in its high bandwidth, agile, on-demand network – the Colt IQ Network – for many years. We have extensive experience in successfully delivering spectrum solutions for our customers in Europe - however, this successful trial using Windstream spectrum opens the possibility of building out a 100G capable US backbone network. We are also excited for what this trial means for our future collaboration with Windstream, as Colt actively pursues innovation and investment in technology trials to drive potential partnerships – so, we look forward to working together more.”
“This first foray into managed spectrum by Windstream Wholesale demonstrates the flexibility of our ICON network and the technology’s exciting potential for domestic terrestrial networks,” said Buddy Bayer, chief network officer for Windstream. “It’s another step in Windstream’s ongoing and carefully planned network architectural strategy that leverages the benefits of fundamental design principles of disaggregation, openness, flexibility and network intelligence. As always, the ultimate goal is to meet our customers’ expanding need for high-capacity bandwidth in the most efficient manner for years to come.
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