Shaw rolls out 100G network

Cableco Shaw Communications has launched what it says is Canada’s first 100Gbps fibre-optic network, following a rollout by French-US vendor Alcatel-Lucent. The new transmission network has the capability to carry up to 88 100Gbps channels over a single pair of fibres, and can theoretically handle up to 133 million voice calls, 440,000 HDTV channels, or transmit 44 Blu-ray discs in one second. The launch of the enhanced backbone – ten times faster than Shaw’s existing fibre network – follows a field trial over a 350km route between Calgary and Edmonton.