Now the Dutch Do 400G

1:45 PM -- Mindful of the strain their networks are going to come under very soon, Europe's long-distance operators are already checking out their 400Gbit/s options as they get their 100Gbit/s routes up and running.

The latest European operator to put 400Gbit/s technology through its paces is KPN International, the cross-border division of Dutch national operator KPN Telecom NV (NYSE: KPN), which has conducted a 400Gbit/s field trial on its live network using gear from incumbent transport vendor Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (See Huawei Deploys 100G for KPN.)

The field trial, which took place on a 540-kilometers stretch of live network between Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Dusseldorf in Germany, comes just a few months after Huawei showed off its 400Gbit/s capabilities at OFC/NFOEC. (See Huawei Shows 400G DWDM Prototype and Paving the Way for 400G.)

KPN and Huawei aren't the only companies talking about 400Gbit/s capabilities, as these recent articles show:

• Sprint Picks Ciena for 400G
  
• AlcaLu Claims 400G Is Hot
  
• AlcaLu Can Do 400G Too
  
• Ciena Pushes Ahead to 400G
  
• BT Heads for 400G With Ciena

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading