Tata Communications adds more 100G with Ciena

Ciena Corp. (NASDAQ: CIEN) and Tata Communications say they have completed 100G upgrades along the TGN-Pacific (TGN-P) submarine cable system connecting the U.S. to Japan and three routes in the TGN-Intra-Asia (TGN-IA) market.

Tata’s TGN-P undersea cable spans 22,300 km and connects Emi, Chiba to Hillsboro, OR, and Toyohashi as well as Aichi Prefecture to Hillsboro. It is is the longest segment in route kilometers and believed to be the highest capacity subsea cables deployed in the Pacific, Tata asserts.

Tata Communications is upgrading the TGN-P submarine network to 100G using Ciena’s 6500 converged packet-optical platform and GeoMesh technology. In addition, Ciena’s products also support Tata Communications’ Intra-Asia network, which spans roughly 6700 km. As a result, Tata Communications can now offer 100G transport services to its customers on these routes.

Based on Ciena’s OPn architecture for programmable network infrastructures that deliver much lower cost-at-scale, Ciena’ says its GeoMesh and WaveLogic technologies enable Tata Communications to better monetize its fiber-optic network. They also enable Tata to handle capacity demands driven by high-bandwidth services such as cloud computing, video, and mobile communications.

Genius Wong, senior vice president, global network services at Tata Communications, said, “We continue to make significant investments to our global network as we understand that… hyper-connectivity has become a part of the everyday fabric of life and business. Investments such as the 100G upgrade to our TGN-Pacific submarine cable and Intra-Asia routes enable us to meet customer demand for high-bandwidth services and applications, whilst ensuring end-to-end network performance for our enterprise and carrier customers across the US and Asia.”

The investment is timely and will answer a very real demand for increased capacity on trans-Pacific routes, according to market research firm TeleGeography.

"TeleGeography forecasts trans-Pacific bandwidth demand to increase seven-fold by 2020,” said Alan Mauldin, research director, Telegeography. “Tata Communications' upgrade to 100G technology on the TGN-Pacific system is a key step in meeting customer requirements for high-capacity, cost-effective bandwidth. With the highest potential capacity of all existing trans-Pacific systems, the TGN-Pacific system will continue to play a leading role in addressing future demand growth."

These upgrades complement Tata Communications’ previous GeoMesh deployment on its TGN-Atlantic (TGN-A) submarine network that links the U.S. and Europe. Tata Communications says its global network (TGN) consists of 210,000 km of terrestrial and subsea network fiber, and its IP Transit Network (AS6453) makes up 20 percent of the world’s Internet routes.

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