FirstLight activates 400G network connection with Ciena
Created January 28, 2022
News and BusinessAlbany, New York-based carrier FirstLight, has deployed its first 400 Gbps connection on its fibre optic network using Ciena’s WaveLogic-powered 6500 platform. The deployment was also supported by optical network integrator LightRiver, Factory Built Networks® and netFLEX® Optical Domain Orchestration and Control software.
With high network capacity and ultra-low latency at the centre of FirstLight’s fibre philosophy, this upgrade is claimed to be something of a milestone for FirstLight. The company says this enhancement enables FirstLight to keep pace with customer demand, as well as positioning its network to support 5G. Additionally, with Ciena’s Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) and Liquid Spectrum apps, FirstLight gains real-time visibility into performance and the ability to proactively optimise the network and protect it from potential faults.
“Launching a 400 Gbps connection on our network is a landmark achievement for the FirstLight team,” noted Brandon Peyton, FirstLight’s chief network officer. “Businesses’ increased reliance upon collaboration and 5G has fed the growing need for bandwidth across industries. Given the projected growth of these technologies, I am confident this is just the beginning of deployments of this scale for FirstLight as the network can easily scale to 800 Gbps and beyond.”
“Ciena’s 6500 platform powered by WaveLogic coherent optics will make it possible for FirstLight to provide 400-800 Gbps connectivity over its existing backbone and metro networks, allowing for rapid rollout of high-capacity, low-latency services to quickly and reliably satisfy customers’ needs,” said Scotty Benda, VP of Americas Sales Systems Engineering for Ciena.
“LightRiver continues to believe that bringing best-of-class technology from Ciena to top-quality operators like FirstLight yields tremendous business advantages,” added Dean Campbell, chief technology officer at LightRiver. “FirstLight’s deployment of 400G services over advanced Ciena technologies marks another win for our collaboration, as well as for FirstLight’s customers,” he added.
For more information visit www.firstlight.net
