MARCH 11, 2008 -- Verizon Business (search for Verizon Business) says it will expand its global network footprint in 2008 while it continues to invest in several network programs and enhancements around the world. The initiative includes investments in a global optical mesh network, increases in submarine capacity, new ultra-long-haul links, deployment of ROADMs, and 40- and 100-Gbit/sec technology, among others.
To meet the worldwide growth in voice, data and video services, Verizon Business' 2008 network expansion programs include a significant focus on China, India, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Canada. Additionally, global network enhancements are planned that will increase network capacity, decrease provisioning time, reduce latency, and improve reliability and efficiency, the carrier says.
"We're expanding and transforming what is already a leading global IP network," said said Fred Briggs, Verizon Business executive vice president of operations and technology. "As we expand our network into new growth regions, we're also moving deeper into countries where we offer services today. For example, one of the fastest-growing countries in the world is China, and we have expanded our capabilities and added significant capacity building on our strong partnerships with Chinese carriers."
In India, the company is currently implementing a five-city IP, Ethernet, and Global Data Link (a point-to-point full-circuit private-line service) network in Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, and Hyderabad. Verizon Business recently received its international and national long-distance licenses to offer advanced communications services to India-based and multinational companies with operations in India.
Responding to customer needs in Latin America, the company is adding MPLS nodes in Mexico City and Monterrey, Mexico. When completed, the network will support private and public IP services. Future phases including other services such as Ethernet VPLS will be offered in these cities.
In Brazil, Verizon Business recently completed an expansion of network capabilities by deploying private IP, public IP, and Global Data Link nodes in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Verizon Business also is implementing national long-distance network expansions in Australia, building an optical backbone serving the cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, and Perth; adding VoIP capabilities in Singapore and Hong Kong; and upgrading the network in Canada with a high-speed optical backbone in Toronto.
In addition to network expansion plans, Verizon Business will use 2008 capital dollars to fund several optically related network programs. These include:
- Submarine Cables: With participation in more than 65 submarine cables in the world, the company is making additional investments in submarine cable capacity in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, India, the Middle East, and Africa. Verizon Business will activate in the third quarter the first submarine cable system with direct 10-Gbit/sec wavelength access from the U.S. to mainland China. In addition to greater speed and capacity, the Trans-Pacific Express Cable (TPE) will offer enhanced reliability by adding another major path and geographic diverse routing to the Asia-Pacific region.
- Optical Global Mesh: Having implemented a mesh architecture on its Atlantic and Pacific submarine cables routes in 2006 and 2007 respectively, Verizon Business will expand this optical mesh architecture into North America and North Asia. When the TPE in the Pacific is completed, the Pacific global mesh network will increase from five-way to seven-way diversity.
- Ultra Long Haul (ULH): Deployment of 2,000 additional ULH miles on the U.S. core backbone network and 1,940 miles on the European network will increase to more than 34,000 the ULH miles deployed on the global network, under a multiyear project. Verizon Business says the ULH technology it deploys will reduce the number of network elements by 70 percent, allowing the network to operate more efficiently while enabling wavelength services. The technology also provides customers with reduced provisioning times, improved reliability, and lower latency, the carrier says.
- ROADM Deployments: Verizon Business will deploy ROADM technology in 19 U.S. markets this year.
- 40- and 100-Gbit/sec Technology: Verizon Business says it will continue to deploy 40 Gbits/sec on network routes in the United States. However, the company will continue testing of 100-Gbit/sec capabilities with an eye toward production-quality systems in late 2009.
"Many of these network programs will help meet an important business objective for large-business customers -- low latency," Briggs said. "Very low latency and predictable latency are becoming real needs for large-business customers today. Low latency not only is an issue for the financial industry where 1 or 2 msec can determine if an electronic trade is completed, but also for industries consolidating data centers around the world. We don't want our customers waiting for their data, and that is why we are heavily investing in network programs focused on driving lower latency."
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