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France Telecom-Orange and Alcatel-Lucent Deploy Wavelength Optical Link
[February 11, 2013]

France Telecom-Orange and Alcatel-Lucent Deploy Wavelength Optical Link


Feb 11, 2013 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- France Telecom-Orange and Alcatel-Lucent announced the deployment of an optical link offering a capacity of 400 Gigabits per second per wavelength in a live network.

According to a release, following a successful field trial, a 400 Gbps wavelength optical link is now operational between Paris and Lyon. This link, which was deployed within France Telecom-Orange's operational environment, represents a milestone for long-distance terrestrial network technology.



With capacity four times higher than the maximum bandwidth currently available and using 44 wavelengths, the new optical link can transmit up to 17.6 Terabits per second (Tbps) of traffic in total.

Renater, the Public Interest Group that manages the telecommunications network for "Technology, Teaching and Research" institutions in France and that is a customer of Orange Business Services, will be the first to test the functionality of this technological development in a real-life situation.


Patrick Donath, Managing Director of Renater, said: "As part of our innovation programme, we plan to test this optical fiber link in real conditions by using it to route traffic across one of our main backbone arteries between Paris and Lyon. This link transports the bulk of France's scientific data that passes through our network. This pilot phase also aims to test the latest switching equipment supplied by major OEMs on a network running at this capacity and will enable us the anticipate the architecture of Renater's network in the coming years. A 400 Gbps network is an important step forward for the networks and research projects of tomorrow." Didier Duriez, Senior Vice President International and Backbone Networks Factory at France Telecom-Orange, said: "This breakthrough will considerably increase the capacity of our fibre optic network linking the two largest economic regions in France. By deploying a 400 Gbps link, France Telecom-Orange is continuing its investment in the development of super-fast infrastructure to support the emergence of new uses, such as multimedia content, social networking and the cloud, and to guarantee transmission quality while keeping costs down." Philippe Keryer, President of Networks and Platforms at Alcatel-Lucent, said: "France Telecom-Orange's use of our commercially available 400 Gbps optical solution, based on our 400 Gbps Photonic Service Engine, supports the emergence of new high bandwidth, high performance business and residential services such as on-demand multimedia content, social networking and cloud services. This latest achievement is a demonstration of the pace of innovation by Alcatel-Lucent and France Telecom-Orange and a testament to the long standing partnership forged between these two companies." ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected]))

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