Verizon launches ROADM-based service

Verizon Business today announced a new optical networking service for enterprises based on reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs) from Tellabs.

As part of the new “integrated optical” service, available now in all of the major markets within the carrier’s franchise territory, Verizon is building dedicated optical rings for enterprise customers using Tellabs’ 7100 optical platform.

The system offers 44 10-Gb/s channels, for 440 Gb/s of total capacity. It is targeted toward customers with bandwidth needs greater than the 2.5 Gb/s of a Sonet OC-48 line, but it is less expensive than a traditional 16-channel dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) system, Verizon said.

The ROADMs include DWDM and ADM capabilities as well as Ethernet in the same box, allowing customers to avoid stacking additional ADMs whenever they want to add capacity. The system can also be used to transport legacy services such as time-division multiplexing and storage, video and mainframe applications.

The ROADMs also allow for remotely administered bandwidth changes. Verizon is promising to enact customer-requested bandwidth changes within a week or two. Perhaps late next year, the carrier hopes to allow customers to make bandwidth changes themselves.

Verizon is currently using Tellabs’ 7100 ROADMs configured in two degrees but is not yet using the smaller, two-degree 7100 “Nano” Tellabs announced in June.