Telefonica subsidiary O2 UK has selected US vendor Ciena to deploy a new high speed nationwide backbone network. Using Ciena’s converged packet optical solutions, the scalable 100G network will allow O2 more flexibility in how the network is controlled and configured, and aims to satisfy growing demands for high-bandwidth mobile, video and cloud services.
The vendor is deploying the 6500 Packet-Optical platform, equipped with WaveLogic 3 Coherent Optical Processors, which Ciena says will accommodate several terabits of traffic in O2’s backbone and, at the same time, respond dynamically to any changes in demand. The new backbone network will connect a number of major UK cities, including London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Liverpool.