The UK’s leading broadband provider Openreach has deployed Ciena optical networking technology to give wholesale customers more flexible, tailored options for services that need to carry very large amounts of data.
The optical technology company and broadband provider have had a long standing relationship. In 2021, they announced that Openreach would be deploying Ciena’s routing and switching and WaveLogic AI- based coherent optical platforms products to deliver OSEA Filter Connect Lite, a hub-and-spoke based solution that provides multiple 10GbE/100GbE links into a low-power, small footprint aggregation point at key network locations.
In the new deal, Ciena’s technology will be used to support Openreach’s wholesale customers with tailored network solutions serving specialist locations such as cable landing stations (CLS), access and backhaul services to Core intersect nodes and datacentres.
Specifically, Openreach is deploying Ciena’s Waveserver powered by WaveLogic 6 (WL6) 1.6Tbps coherent technology into its Optical Spectrum Extended Access (OSEA) portfolio. The technology includes the installation of 400G and 800G client traffic over dedicated 1.6Tbps wavelengths, with a 2RU chassis supporting up to 32 x 400G services.
Ciena said this “significantly” expands the range of high-capacity services Openreach can offer. It also introduces national 800G services for the first time and creates a clear path to even faster services as customers’ needs grow.
In particular, the benefits for Openreach’s UK fibre network are said to include: high-capacity connections between datacentres; private cloud networks for businesses; connections between international cable landing stations and datacentres; more resilient connections using different fibre routes across the UK; and extra capacity to support growth in cloud services, online content and international subsea traffic.
The deal will also see Ciena provide specialist support to help Openreach deploy, proactively monitor and maintain its OSEA optical product. This long-standing partnership helps keep the network reliable and enables Openreach to introduce new services more quickly.
Openreach said the deployment is part of its continued investment in the UK’s digital infrastructure. By increasing the capacity of its optical network, the BT-owned broadband company believes that it is helping wholesale providers support the growth of cloud services, international subsea connections and data centres across the UK.
“Demand for fast, reliable connectivity is growing rapidly. This investment shows how Openreach is strengthening its network to support wholesale customers across the UK,” said Nicolas Lemaitre, Openreach’s director of products.
“By using Ciena’s Waveserver and WL6 technology, we’re preparing our services for the next wave of digital growth, including increasing demand from AI applications and critical national infrastructure.”
The news, however, comes hot on the heels of UK comms regulator Ofcom concluding its consultation into a set of commercial offers from Openreach to new customers with the mandate that it removes one of the packages it intended to make available.
In its ruling, Ofcom said that it had determined Openreach’s service charges under its proposed Incremental New to Openreach Offer were not fair and reasonable, because they resulted in margins that may not allow a reasonably efficient operator to recover its costs. It also considered that because of its market position, Openreach was uniquely able to make such a targeted low-price offer.
