Verizon Goes Long(er) With 100-Gig

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) has stepped things up a notch with its 100-Gbit/s technology trials by testing a 111-Gbit/s channel over 1,040 kilometers of its Richardson, Texas, network, according to a presentation paper to be given at the upcoming European Conference and Exhibition on Optical Communications (or ECOC to its friends).

At the event, to be held in Brussels September 21-25, Verizon's director of backbone network design, Glenn Wellbrock, will tell attendees how the U.S. carrier has demonstrated the "feasibility of 100G overlaying existing 10G/40G commercial systems."

That's something Verizon has done before: In November 2007 it trialed a 100-Gbit/s service over a live network link between Tampa and Miami using equipment from Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU). (See Verizon Keeps 100-Gig Promise.)

At that time, Wellbrock told Light Reading: "We want to get it to the same values that we would expect for 40 Gbit/s, which is over 1,000 km. We believe that 1,000-plus km distances are very achievable."

Well, it seems that's just what Verizon has managed, though this time it has deployed the hiT 7500 ultra long haul (ULH) platform from Nokia Siemens Networks "with standard EDFA amplifiers spaced every 80 km on Verizon’s fiber network" in Richardson.

Wellbrock will explain how Verizon achieved transmission capabilities of 111 Gbit/s "on a 50Ghz grid with two adjacent 43 Gb/s and eight 10.7 Gb/s channels over 1,040 Km of standard fiber and two ROADMs in the optical path," according to a pre-show abstract paper available on the ECOC Website.

The results of the trial, which has concluded, confirm the suitability of 111-Gbit/s "for multi-rate operation in existing systems on presently deployed fiber infrastructures."

Nokia Siemens confirmed its involvement in the trial, and suggested it would be able to elaborate on its involvement during the ECOC show. Wellbrock had not been reached as this article was published.

Verizon, of course, is not alone in checking out the feasibility of 100-Gbit/s transmission, even while deploying 40-Gbit/s systems. AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and cable operator Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) have also been testing various optical platforms for 100-Gbit/s capabilities. (See NEC, AT&T Demo 100G and Comcast, Nortel Put 100G to the Test .)

With operators such as Verizon and AT&T demonstrating that 100-Gbit/s services are possible on existing fiber infrastructure, the next big test is whether the equipment vendors can deliver economically viable platforms that will lead to widespread commercial deployments, says Heavy Reading senior analyst and optical expert Sterling Perrin.

"Verizon is definitely at the leading edge of 100-Gbit/s, and it plans to deploy, not just do the technology tests," notes Perrin, who believes Verizon is likely to introduce 100-Gbit/s technology into its live network in late 2009 or early 2010. "But the timing of the deployments is very dependent on when the vendors can get the costs down compared with 40-Gbit/s and 10-Gbit/s systems. Until that happens we're only likely to see small deployments -- the costs need to be right."

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading

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