AquaComms taps Ciena for AEConnect transatlantic submarine cable system

Aqua Comms Ltd. will use optical transmission systems from Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) on its America-Europe Connect (AEConnect) transatlantic submarine cable system, according to the systems house.

Separately, Digital Realty announced it would offer access to AEConnect via its data center at 32 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Equinix also will provide access (see "Equinix to supply access points for AquaComms AEConnect transatlantic submarine network").

AEConnect will link New York to London via Ireland, a distance of more than 5,400 km (see "America-Europe Connect submarine network construction begins"). It also will offer onward connectivity to the rest of Europe.

Ciena will supply its GeoMesh offering, which will include its 6500 Packet-Optical Platform. The system will support high capacity via a variety of optical modulation formats, including 8QAM and 16QAM. The company's OneControl Unified Management System, PinPoint Advanced Fiber Analytics, and OneConnect Layer 0 Control Plane will provide end-to-end network management, visibility, and restoration on the terrestrial segments.

"By deploying this next-generation transatlantic subsea cable system, we are able to provide premium connectivity for both our web-scale and service provider customers, who continue to see the demand for bandwidth growing at exponential rates," said Greg Varisco, COO at Aqua Comms. "Ciena's GeoMesh solution helps ensure that we have the scalable, programmable and high-capacity connectivity in place to support the varied needs of our customers."

Back in New York, Digital Realty says that it expect its customers will be able to access the system from the 32 Avenue of the Americas data center by the end of 2015. The company plans to expand availability to its two other New York facilities at 111 8th Avenue and 60 Hudson Street as well.

"Digital Realty's combination of 60 Hudson Street, 111 8th Avenue and 32 Avenue of the Americas creates a market-leading trifecta for data center and colocation services in the New York metropolitan area," said Anthony Rossabi, senior vice president and managing director, Telx. "With AEConnect linking New York and London, we are excited to offer enterprises, carriers and mobile operators access to private network bandwidth between two of the largest commercial centers in the world."

For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer's Guide.