CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL) has upgraded its optical backbone with the Infinera DTN-X platform, as expected.

Infinera Corp. (Nasdaq: INFN) announced the deal Tuesday morning. Among the motivations cited for CenturyLink's upgrade is the ability to deliver 100Gbit/s Ethernet services to customers and to its own data centers.

Qwest first started using Infinera gear in 2004, but it wasn't clear the carrier would continue doing so after being acquired by CenturyLink last year.

Why this matters
This was pretty much expected, as Infinera has been talking about a U.S. Tier 1's interest in the DTN-X, and sources have been pointing to CenturyLink lately. The other popular guess was Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), which had participated in the DTN-X launch event.

The bigger picture, though, is the growing customer roster for the DTN-X. Infinera's bet on skipping a 40Gbit/s generation, going straight to 100Gbit/s channels and a 500Gbit/s superchannel, would seem to be paying off. The system has won at least 17 customers (based on the 16 that CEO Tom Fallon cited in October's earnings call) since being announced in September 2011.

For more

— Craig Matsumoto, Managing Editor, Light Reading