Zayo Group has successfully completed what is believed to be the world’s longest known terrestrial 800G optical wavelength in a commercial network, at 1,044.51km. The company says that this beats the previous world record by 74.5km.
Zayo’s fibre route stretches from Springville, Utah to Reno, Nevada, in the U.S. Extending large wavelengths across greater distances makes services more cost-effective and capable to end users. In recent months, Zayo has been making major investments in the company’s network throughout North America and Western Europe, including 31 high-capacity, 400G-enabled long-haul routes and its first production interstate 800G wave in the U.S. Bigger wavelengths provide the significant network bandwidth expansion necessary to power high-definition content, 5G cell networks, IoT, remote work and more.
Zayo’s network is lit and powered by Infinera’s ICE6 800G coherent technology as the two companies are helping to push 800G further into Zayo’s optical network. Aaron Werley, vice president of lit networks at Zayo said: ‘Zayo continues to achieve what wasn’t previously possible as part of our efforts to provide best-in-class connectivity services and enable our customers’ growth. We look to the goals of our customers to inform our evolution, and the demand for 800G is being driven by a need for more bandwidth at higher line rates, all while leveraging the cost-effectiveness of high-capacity wavelengths covering longer distances. We are grateful to both our partners at Infinera, whose hardware solutions pushed the limits, and our outstanding Zayo team members who helped make this accomplishment possible.’
Tom Burns, general manager of Infinera’s optical modules and coherent solutions group added: ‘At Infinera, our vision is a connected world with unlimited bandwidth for everyone, everywhere, always, and instantly. There’s no better way to demonstrate a commitment to innovation than chasing and breaking world records in network connectivity. This is a ground breaking moment and we are proud to have partnered with Zayo to make history.’
