UK’s fourth largest asset owning telecoms operator SSE Telecoms has selected Ciena’s coherent 100 Gb/s optical networking technology as the exclusive solution for deployment in its UK national network. Ciena Corporation is network specialist.

By utilising Ciena’s WaveLogic coherent optical processors, the 100 Gb/s network, which is operational, can now connect the operator’s main data centres and enable a far more efficient provisioning of high capacity services.

SSE Telecoms, a strategic business unit of SSE plc (formerly Scottish and Southern Energy), the UK’s second largest energy supplier and one of the FTSE 100 companies is deploying Ciena’s 6500 Packet Optical Platform equipped with WaveLogic coherent optical processors to connect its key data centre locations across Britain. The high capacity links, already deployed and operational, connect SSE Telecoms’ sites in Manchester and Hampshire to the Global Switch 2 data centre located in London’s Docklands.

The 100 Gb/s deployment is an extension of SSE Telecoms’ existing Ciena powered network backbone, based on the 6500 platform. The newly deployed 100 Gb/s channels add to the existing mix of 10G and 40G channels and run alongside them, ensuring optimal use of the optical spectrum for SSE Telecoms.

By introducing 100 Gb/s technology into its network, SSE Telecoms continues to push the boundaries of network reach and performance, enabling customers to achieve high capacity optical networking. The 100 Gb/s network enables SSE Telecoms to offer both 10G and 100G services to its customers, while ensuring low latency, guaranteeing high availability, reducing power consumption by 46 percent and footprint by 70 percent when compared to a traditional architecture based on 10G technology.

The pioneer and market leader in coherent technology for optical transmission, Ciena has to date shipped over 14,000 coherent 40G/100G line interfaces to more than 120 customers across the globe, with nearly 13 million coherent kilometres deployed worldwide.

 “This network enhancement will develop our existing product capability and allow customers to develop specific network requirements that are to the best quality available. Our strategy to specialise and drive high capacity network requirements means that with the Ciena platform we are able to provide customers with an exciting proposition”, said Mark Corney, Director of Sales and Development, SSE Telecoms

“With the adoption of cloud computing services gaining momentum, high capacity networks have become a true enabler of these game changing applications and a requirement for cloud computing to deliver on its promise. Delivering improved performance and better network running economics, Ciena’s 100G solution deployed in SSE Telecoms’ network allows the operator to ride this next wave of growth and support it in an efficient and cost effective way, while creating a seamless evolution path for its infrastructure.”