Cignal AI: Long-Haul WDM spending mix reaches record levels

Worldwide spending on network transport equipment declined 5% in the second quarter of 2021, according to the most recent Transport Hardware Report from research firm Cignal AI. North American results were weak YoY due to cyclical Covid influences in 2020. Still, NA operators are set to grow spending aggressively in the second half of the year. Chinese network operator spending collapsed over 20% in 2Q21 as 5G capex paused and supply chain challenges worsened.

“Despite current semiconductor supply chain issues, North American spending should accelerate in the second half of 2021 as operators purchase additional high-performance long-haul WDM coherent equipment,” said Kyle Hollasch, Lead Analyst for Transport Hardware at Cignal AI. “Long Haul line systems capable of supporting wider and variable channel spacing, higher degree counts, and improved add/drop capabilities provide compelling reasons to make investments now.”

Additional 2Q21 Transport Hardware Report Findings:

• The spending mix between long-haul and metro WDM reached a record level following 5 quarters of investment in advanced coherent and line system technology. Carriers may be deferring metro expenditures considering the imminent availability of transport system upgrades utilizing 400G coherent pluggables.
• Chinese optical and packet hardware spending collapsed, resulting in the largest single quarterly decline on record and the first instance of consecutive quarters with YoY declines.
• Sales of optical hardware in EMEA were up significantly YoY as the region continues to produce steady single-digit growth. Despite strategic wins by Nokia and observations of increasing replacement activity from Ciena, Huawei’s footprint in EMEA shows no noticeable impact from geopolitical factors.
• North American packet transport sales were up slightly, with market leader Cisco realizing gains in Core as its 8000 series routers ramp.
• Component shortages weighed on smaller equipment manufacturers as constrained global semiconductor production increased lead times. ADVA and Infinera quantified the effect on sales (10% and 6% of revenue, respectively), though larger vendors reported minimal impact on their sales. Vendors do not anticipate resolution of these issues until 2022.

https://cignal.ai/2021/09/north-american-optical-transport-spending-to-accelerate/

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NeoPhotonics debuts CFP2-DCO module for 400G ROADMs

NeoPhotonics announced a new, high output power version of its 400G Multi-Rate CFP2-DCO coherent pluggable transceiver with 0 dBm output power and designed to operate in metro, regional and long haul ROADM based optical networks.

NeoPhotonics said its new, high output power module is based on its vertically integrated Indium Phosphide technology platform, including its ultra-pure Nano tunable laser and Class 40 Coherent Driver Modulator (CDM) and Coherent Receiver (ICR). The module operates at up to 67 Gbaud enabling longer distance transmission and exhibiting superior receiver Optical Signal to Noise Ratio (rOSNR) performance. An important, differentiating feature is that the transmitter integrates an optical amplifier to achieve the 0 dBm output power, while simultaneously achieving what the Company believes is the best transmitter OSNR and out-of-band OSNR performance in the industry. Higher transmitter OSNR enables longer distance transmission or more ROADM stages, while higher out-of-band OSNR ensures less crosstalk for colorless ROADMs.

“Our newest CFP2-DCO coherent pluggable module, with high output power, robust ROADM filtering tolerance and demonstrated transmission over 1500 km, allows customers to use one coherent pluggable solution to cover essentially all metro ROADM use cases, simplifying network design, enabling disaggregation, and lowering inventory costs,” said Tim Jenks, Chairman and CEO of NeoPhotonics. “The key to achieving line card equivalent performance in a pluggable module, but with significantly lower power than a line card, is the vertical integration of our optical solution and Nano tunable laser,” concluded Mr. Jenks.

NeoPhotonics also notes that its CFP2-DCO module is well suited for metro ROADM applications to cover a network distribution of up to 16 ROADM spans, encompassing almost all network scenarios. In addition, this module runs at a high spectral efficiency with 75GHz DWDM channel spacing. The same 400G CFP2-DCO module has sufficient performance to cover long-haul applications at 400G and 200G.

https://www.neophotonics.com/press-releases/?newsId=12741

NeoPhotonics ships QSFP-DD and OSFP 400ZR coherent modules

Thursday, June 10, 2021  400ZR, Neophotonics, QSFP-DD  

NeoPhotonics announced the general availability of its QSFP-DD and OSFP 400ZR pluggable modules.These products utilize NeoPhotonics Silicon Photonics Coherent Optical Subassembly (COSA) and low power consumption, ultra-narrow linewidth Nano-ITLA tunable laser, combined with the latest generation of 7 nm node DSP, to provide full 400ZR transmission in a standard data center QSFP-DD or OSFP form factor that can be plugged directly into switches and...

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NeoPhotonics: Pluggable 400G over 1500 km in a 75 GHz-spaced system

Monday, June 07, 2021  Neophotonics  

NeoPhotonics demonstrated its Multi-Rate CFP2-DCO coherent pluggable transceivers transmitting at a 400 Gbps data rate over a distance of 1500 km in a 75 GHz-spaced DWDM network. This 1500 km transmission demonstration was carried out on NeoPhotonics Transmission System Testbed using production modules with enhanced firmware and utilized 75 GHz spaced channels taking the adjacent channel crosstalk-induced penalty into account.  The transmission...

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NeoPhotonics ships first coherent components for 800G and up

Thursday, May 13, 2021  800G, Neophotonics  

NeoPhotonics announced the first pilot shipments of Class 60 versions of its Coherent Driver-Modulator (CDM) and Intradyne Coherent Receiver (Micro-ICR) designed for the next generation of 96 GBaud and above systems supporting 800G rates.NeoPhotonics said higher symbol rates increase data capacity while maintaining superior optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) and reach performance, thereby enabling the highest speed-over-distance use. These new...

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AT&T inks deal with OneWeb for coverage in remote locations

AT&T signed a strategic agreement with OneWeb to provide LEO satellite coverage for AT&T business customers into remote and challenging geographic locations. The new connectivity will complement existing AT&T access technologies.

The AT&T service will be supported by OneWeb’s network of satellites. OneWeb has launched 288 satellites and expects to attain global coverage with a total fleet of 648 satellites by the end of 2022. AT&T business and government customers in Alaska and northern U.S. states will be covered later this year.

“Working with OneWeb, we’ll be able to enhance high-speed connectivity in places that we don’t serve today and meet our customers wherever they are,” said Scott Mair, President, Network Engineering and Operations, AT&T. “We’re expanding our network with one more option to help ensure that our business customers have the high-speed, low-latency connectivity they need to thrive as the nation recovers from COVID-19.”

“OneWeb’s enterprise-grade network has a unique capability to serve hard-to-reach businesses and communities. Our work with AT&T will focus on how satellite technology can support improved capacity and coverage in remote, rural and challenging geographic locations,” said  Neil Masterson,  OneWeb Chief Executive Officer. “Today’s agreement with AT&T demonstrates OneWeb’s execution momentum and the confidence customers such as AT&T have in its services and offering.”

https://about.att.com/story/2021/att_oneweb.html

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VSG: Lumen leads Mid-2021 U.S. Carrier Ethernet LEADERBOARD

Vertical Systems Group announces that the following seven companies achieved a position on the Mid-2021 U.S. Carrier Ethernet Services LEADERBOARD (in rank order based on retail port share as of June 30, 2021): Lumen, AT&T, Spectrum Enterprise, Verizon, Comcast, Cox and Windstream. To qualify for a rank on this LEADERBOARD, network providers must have a share of four percent (4%) or more of the U.S. retail Ethernet services market.

Five network providers attained a Mid-2021 Challenge Tier citation (in alphabetical order): Altice USA, Cogent, Frontier, GTT and Zayo. The Challenge Tier includes providers with between 1% and 4% share of the U.S. retail Ethernet services market.

“Protracted effects of the pandemic throughout the U.S. continue to suppress expansion of Ethernet service installations. Commercial building workforce levels – a primary driver for bandwidth – remain lower than normal,” said Rick Malone, principal of Vertical Systems Group. “We continue to see strength in demand for Ethernet DIA and Ethernet-based wavelength services. Conversely, the shift to hybrid SD-WAN solutions is negatively impacting switched metro Ethernet and Ethernet access to MPLS services.”

Mid-2021 U.S. Ethernet Services Research Highlights

• Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) has held first position on the U.S. Ethernet LEADERBOARD since year-end 2017, subsequent to the merger of CenturyLink and Level 3.
• Cox advances to sixth position on the Mid-2021 U.S. Ethernet LEADERBOARD ahead of Windstream, which moves to seventh position.
• Comcast had the highest port share growth in the first half of the year across all companies on the Mid-Year 2021 U.S. Ethernet LEADERBOARD.
• The number of Challenge Tier companies drops to five from six as T-Mobile (includes Sprint) moves into the Market Player tier.
• Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) continues to be the top performing Ethernet service. Customer demand for Ethernet DIA is driven by requirements for secure, high speed dedicated connectivity to data centers and cloud-based services, as well as for SD-WAN underlays.
• Growth of the substantial U.S. base of E-Access to VPN services is waning as customers migrate from MPLS to SD-WAN. E-Access to VPN offerings provide connectivity to private IP/MPLS VPNs, gateways to SD-WAN services and Hybrid WANs.
• Lumen and Verizon are the only U.S. Ethernet LEADERBOARD-ranked service providers with MEF 3.0 Carrier Ethernet certification to date.

https://www.verticalsystems.com/2021/08/31/mid2021-us-ethernet-leaderboard/

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BridgeComm develops optical inter-satellite links

BridgeComm announced plans to offer optical inter-satellite links (OISL) tracking terminals for high data rates for data transmission and resilient performance in navigation. 

BridgeComm’s AstroBridge OISL will provide robust and secure transmissions using MOCA technology via radio frequency (RF) and optical lasers. AstroBridge targets low-earth orbits (LEO), with non-gimballed steering for better control of optical communication tracking terminals. The non-gimballed steering capabilities of AstroBridge allow for tracking of greater than 1000° per second, which is crucial for constellations with multiple orbital planes.

“AstroBridge OISL is a significant step in the maturation of inter-satellite links and the future of satellite data transmission, as more companies are incorporating inter-satellite links,” said Barry Matsumori, BridgeComm CEO. “Along with increased speed and security, our AstroBridge OISL offers multi-gigabit per second data rate capabilities while being smaller and lighter than its standard inter-satellite link counterparts. These features will greatly improve functionality in space and on the ground.”

http://www.bridgecomminc.com

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Webex by Cisco hosts record 8 billion calls monthly

Cisco is now hosting a record eight billion calls monthly across its cloud calling platforms, the most of any cloud calling provider, according to the company. Webex also now supports more than 39 million cloud calling users worldwide - the most of any cloud calling provider.

To meet enterprises growing global needs, Cisco has also extended its domestic calling coverage to include the UK, with more than 65 countries now covered with its Cisco Calling Plans and Cloud Connected PSTN services. Noted customers for Webex Calling include T-Mobile, Office Depot, Cigna Health, and CDK Global.

Webex Calling is part of the Webex Suite – the industry’s first suite for hybrid work that provides Cloud Calling, Messaging, Meetings, Polling, Events and Socio in a unified, secure offering.

“With the move to hybrid work and increasing pressure to delight customers, there’s never been a greater need to unify communications across the entire workforce,” said Jeetu Patel, executive vice president and general manager, Cisco Security and Collaboration. “As enterprises look to migrate calling solutions to the cloud, Webex Calling offers the leading end-to-end, secure calling experience that makes unified communications a reality.”

https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?type=webcontent&articleId=219419

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Mitsubishi to supply electricity to AWS in Japan

Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) will supply electricity to data centers owned and operated by Amazon Web Services in Japan.

Under the long-term Corporate Power Purchase Agreement, West Holdings Corporation will build and maintain roughly 450 solar power stations (with a total installed capacity of approximately 22 megawatts) for Amazon and supply the online retailer with wholesale electricity. MC subsidiaries Mitsubishi Corporation Energy Solutions Ltd. and ElectroRoute will also be involved. The former will manage construction of the solar power facilities and provide tech support, while the latter will forecast the facilities’ outputs and hedge power generation imbalances. The term of this Corporate PPA is approximately ten years, with commercial operations slated to commence in April 2023.  

 MC is aiming to double its 2019 renewable energy output by 2030 and completely eliminate fossil fuels and CO2 emissions from its power-generation portfolio by 2050. 

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