Ciena drives Vodafone NZ rollout of 800G technology

Image courtesy of Vodafone New Zealand

Vodafone New Zealand is advancing its network by being the first provider in that country to deploy 800G technology, enabling extremely high data capacity, transmission and speeds. 

The term 800G refers to 800 billion bits per second transmission capacity, which is enough to transport 25 HD movies in one second or the latest virtual reality game in a quarter of a second.

Using Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) coherent optics between its data centres in Auckland, Vodafone is achieving record transmission speeds to support growing, yet constantly fluctuating, demands for digital services while enabling a greener network.

By implementing Ciena’s WL5e, Vodafone can better manage network requirements to support its recently launched 5G service. The internet provider will also be able to offer a broad range of digital experiences by scaling from 200G up to 800G single wavelengths to optimise capacity across any distance while lowering costs.

Vodafone is leveraging its existing Ciena 6500 shelves, doubling the data throughput for each hardware module deployed and reducing energy consumption by 50%.

“With Ciena’s WL5e, Vodafone will provide increased bandwidth for a plethora of data-hungry applications, especially necessary as we’ve seen both increases and spikes of data used during the past few months, a trend that is only set to continue as remote working becomes more widespread and New Zealand gears up for a more digitally-focused future,” said Tony Baird, wholesale and infrastructure director at Vodafone.

Baird said the highly advanced data transport system has been deployed together with Vodafone’s optical partner Ciena and test equipment experts VIAVI.

“Today’s networks need to adapt and adjust quickly to meet rising connectivity demands. WL5e delivers increased scale, performance and efficiency, transforming Vodafone New Zealand’s network to bring exciting new applications and services to life,” said Rick Seeto, VP and general manager of Asia-Pacific and Japan at Ciena.