Windstream Wholesale turns up multi-400G wavelength service for cable MSO

Windstream Wholesale has delivered multiple 400G wave orders to a large cable operator, completing service deployment to the customer in just 16 business days.

The telco attributed to the turnup time to its “one team” approach, emphasizing seamless collaboration and alignment between engineering, service delivery, product, and sales teams. The Wholesale group's unified structure fostered open communication and facilitated close teamwork throughout the entire process, from initial service conceptualization to post-delivery support. Leveraging their readily available inventory of 400G equipment and the cutting-edge capabilities of Windstream's Intelligent Converged Optical Network (ICON) line system, the company enabled swift provisioning and activation, with a delivery interval far surpassing the customer’s expectations.

“We’re not only the tech leader with our next generation 400G service but we’re also the leader in flexible partnerships,” said Monther Hammoudeh, Windstream’s senior vice president of Transport Engineering and Operations. “I’m proud of our experienced team and their relentless pursuit to provide first-in-class service and customer satisfaction. Turning up 2.4 TB of capacity in 16 days requires a lot of collaborative teamwork.”

The customer, a prominent cable operator, requires the fastest products and services available.

“What’s truly exciting and humbling to me is that we pioneered the 400G deployment in 2020 and now we’re introducing the industry’s newest Regional Rapid Fiber 400G in 2023, and our team is also the fastest,” said Joe Scattareggia, chief revenue officer for Windstream Wholesale. “Turning up multiple 400G waves in the same month that the customer ordered the service is unheard of in the market. Others are just now moving to build a network that supports this technology while we are on the next generation and turning it up at record speeds.”

Windstream’s Intelligent Converged Optical Network (ICON) provides open and disaggregated networking infrastructure, enabling wholesale and enterprise technology customers to select unique custom routes, maintain operational insights with Windstream’s Network Intelligence functions, and place their networks closer to the edge to better serve end-users.

The need for high speed, particularly 400G wavelength services, is on the rise. According to Vertical Systems Group in its 2022 U.S. Wavelength Services LEADERBOARD report, the expansion of the “U.S. base of wavelength circuits is being driven by double-digit growth for 100+ Gbps connections through 2027.” The research firm added that billable installations of 400 Gbps services are emerging as wavelength providers expand availability and rollout new solutions. Also, customer demand for retail wavelength circuits continued to outpace wholesale deployments in 2022.