Nortel's 40G Optical Solution Prepares Alaska Communication Systems For Rise In Internet Traffic
Toronto, Ontario - Alaska Communications Systems, Alaska's leading integrated telecommunications company, has chosen Nortel to provide a 40G optical network for the terrestrial portion of an undersea fiber-optic cable from Alaska to Oregon. This network will position ACS to deliver end-to-end communications solutions for enterprise and mass market customers who require reliable, high-performance connectivity between Alaska and the lower 48 states.
"At ACS, we are focused on serving the fast growing wireline/wireless data and enterprise markets and see significant annual bandwidth growth rates. Nortel's 40G solution, which allows us to quadruple our unit capacity while making no compromises on network performance, will be key to helping us grow our business," said Anand Vadapalli, ACS senior vice president - Network & IT. "With Nortel, we are furthering our commitment to provide reliable and high bandwidth enterprise services, consistent with our plans to have the Alaska-Oregon network up and running by the end of 2008 and available for commercial service very early in 2009."
"Like consumers all over the world, ACS customers want to run bandwidth-intensive applications like Internet video, social networking sites, and advanced business services," said Philippe Morin, president of Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks "Nortel's 40G/100G solution allows ACS to cost-effectively deliver the capacity to meet these needs in a unique geographic environment, over various qualities of fiber and across long distances."
Nortel has over 40-years of innovation experience with optical networks. Building on this experience, Nortel has developed the industry's first optical technology that can deliver both 40G and 100G network capacity through simple 'plug and play' technology components added to existing 10G networks. Nortel's 40G/100G Adaptive Optical Engine dynamically corrects changes in optical signals wherever they develop over thousands of miles to ensure a clean transmission is maintained over any type of fiber used today. This type of technology is valuable for carriers such as ACS because there is no need to rip and replace existing fiber or deploy different platforms depending on distance requirements.
"The ACS network involves numerous types of fibers that allow us to offer services across a variety of fiber distances and market densities, including extended long-haul distances. Nortel's solution is compatible with our array of fiber types and distances, making it simple to add more bandwidth while continuing to offer reliable service to our customers. This is the first deployment of 40G technology in Alaska, and builds on ACS' track record of being the first to offer best in class enterprise solutions," said Vadapalli.
"Nortel is very excited to be working with ACS because it allows us to demonstrate how simple it can be to keep up with network demand using our 40G/100G solution," said Morin. "ACS is using their existing 10G network with only minor upgrades from Nortel to deliver a high-bandwidth 40G solution that easily supports the new capabilities customers want while keeping fees affordable through savings on equipment and maintenance costs."
The ACS optical network solution includes the Optical Multiservice Edge 6500 convergence platform and the Common Photonic Layer (CPL) line system. This agile network solution allows service providers to deliver high-growth, high-bandwidth broadband services with low deployment and operational costs. Nortel Optical Network Manager will provide the required operations administration and management for the network and together with advanced network planning tools, will provide the ability to build and operate the network and management of services.
SOURCE: Nortel