HANOVER, Md – Windstream, a provider of advanced network communications, is deploying Ciena's Blue Planet orchestration software to automate the delivery of managed wavelength services across the company’s multi-vendor optical network. By leveraging the open orchestration capabilities of Blue Planet, Windstream is able to utilize its optical network as a programmable resource and accelerate the delivery of managed 1 Gbit/s Ethernet, 10 Gbit/s Ethernet and 100 Gbits Ethernet wavelength services to its wholesale, enterprise, media and web-scale customers.

Windstream transport services include TDM, SONET, Ethernet and optical Wave transport services at speeds from 1G to 100G, delivered over its 125,000 mile, nationwide core network. Windstream adopted an agile, DevOps-style approach to developing and implementing automation in its network. This involved close collaboration among multiple vendors that allowed the project to go from concept to production in less than three months.

Windstream is leveraging Blue Planet’s open architecture to integrate with third-party SDN controllers and enable service orchestration across the company’s long-haul and metro network. The platform provides Windstream with a simplified view of the multi-vendor optical layer, through which it can develop and provision new services, and manipulate existing ones, with greater speed.

Another key benefit of the Blue Planet software is the ability to orchestrate multiple technology domains, giving Windstream a foundation to quickly automate other layers of the physical network as well as virtual resources in the future.

“At Windstream, we are investing in strategic technologies that enable us to deliver flexible, on-demand services across our multi-vendor network," said Jeff Small, head of engineering for Windstream. "We selected Ciena’s Blue Planet orchestration solution because of the richness and breadth of the technology, and its ability to grow with us as we automate other layers of the network and deliver agile, virtualized services to our customers. Abstracting the complexity of service delivery across our diverse, multi-vendor network, unlocks a future where we can focus more on the richness of our customer’s experience and less on the operations of that network.”

Ciena Corp. (NYSE: CIEN)

Windstream Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: WIN)