LONDON -- Telia Carrier has today announced an agreement with Ciena to further increase capacity in its European footprint.

To maintain its position and capture growth in its long-haul transport network, Telia Carrier has today chosen Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) to be the supplier of a new Open Optical Line System (O-OLS) in Europe. The selected system will be deployed from the beginning of 2020 and will provide increased capacity across the European FLAP (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Paris) markets, as well as linking-up additional key locations in the Telia Carrier network, to create a European Express Network.

“The new O-OLS from Ciena provides great flexibility and scalability, enabling us to strengthen our European network within our core transport infrastructure as the demand for high-performance capacity services in this region continues to grow”, said Staffan Göjeryd, CEO, Telia Carrier.

Additionally, Telia Carrier will deploy Ciena’s Waveserver transponders, powered by Wavelogic Ai and WaveLogic 5 Extreme coherent optics, which can be deployed not only in the new O-OLS in Europe, but also in other existing Line Systems in the Telia Carrier network, in both Europe and the United States. This further strengthens Telia Carrier’s position as one of the first Tier 1 operators to push for true openness and the ability to run alien wavelengths within its infrastructure on both sides of the Atlantic. “Europe is an important market for long-haul fiber connectivity so being able to deploy and maintain a scalable and adaptive network is key,” said Jamie Jefferies, Vice President and General Manager, EMEA at Ciena. “Working with industry leaders like Telia Carrier supports our relentless pursuit of network innovation, enabling network providers to deliver richer, more connected experiences for their customers.”

Top-ranked global backbone
For more than two decades Telia Carrier’s global fiber backbone has grown organically, without acquisitions. It was the first network to successfully transmit 1 Tb/s in super channels on its U.S. network and recently announced the first real-time transmission of 600Gb/s wavelengths in a live production network. According to Dyn Research’s global backbone rankings, Telia Carrier’s global IP backbone, AS1299, is currently ranked number one. The company enables worldwide connectivity by connecting more than 300 Points of Presence (PoPs) across Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East.

Telia Carrier
Ciena Corp. (NYSE: CIEN)