Tata Communications upgrades TGN-Atlantic subsea cable system

Tata Communications, a global communications service provider that owns and operates the world's largest subsea cable network, has launched 40 gigabits (G) per second enabled services on its TGN-Atlantic subsea cable system from New York to London.

In partnership with Ciena, the deployment of 40G coherent optical technology on the TGN-Atlantic cable is the first on Tata Communications’ global submarine network. The upgrade will deliver bandwidth and flexibility to carriers and enterprises around the world with four times the capacity of traditional 10G wavelengths.

This landmark implementation will pave the way for further upgrades across Tata Communications’ global network, which consists of over 200,000 kilometres of terrestrial network fibre and over 500,000 kilometres of subsea cable. Its network carries 17% of the world's internet traffic and 2,400 petabits of IP traffic per month. TeleGeography expects the demand for trans-Atlantic capacity to increase nearly 9-fold between 2010 and 2017.

Based on Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform with 40G /100G coherent technology, the high-capacity TGN-Atlantic optical network now better supports carriers and large enterprises’ growing bandwidth requirements for national and international high-speed connectivity with a flexible, cost-effective and scalable infrastructure. The network is fully compliant with International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standards.

Ciena’s WaveLogic coherent receiver technology enables unobtrusive 40G / 100G upgrades to existing submarine networks with only the addition of new terminal equipment, significantly extending the life of existing cable plants and further lengthening its lifespan, while simultaneously lowering ongoing network operating costs.

The first phase of the deployment will bring the 40G capability to the New York - London route. In the second phase, this will be extended to Ashburn, Virginia and the rest of Europe.

Tata Communications’ global connectivity services are built on the world's largest and most advanced global submarine cable network available today, enabling carriers and enterprises to connect across the globe. The cable network boasts significant depth in key emerging markets including China, India and South Africa. Ciena is a pioneer in coherent optical technology with more than 9,000 coherent 40G / 100G line interfaces which have shipped to close to 100 customers across the globe. It has deployed more than 8 million 40G and 100G coherent kilometres to date.