OFC/NFOEC: MCI targets 2H05 for 40 Gb/s, 2006 for ROADM

ANAHIEM, Calif.--MCI is targeting the second half of 2005 for deployment of 40-Gb/s networks and the first half of 2006 to deploy reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADM), said Glenn Wellbrock, MCI's director of network technology development.

The carrier has conducted at least two trials of 40-Gb/s networks. The first, using equipment from Cisco Systems, took place in May 2004 and extended from San Jose, Calif., to San Francisco. The second, using Ciena and Mintera gear, took place in June 2004 and extended from Sacramento, Calif., to Salt Lake City, Utah. The commercial deployment of a new network technology requires successful trials of equipment from multiple vendors, Wellbrock said, to avoid overdependence on any single vendor.

While the migration from 2.5 Gb/s to 10 Gb/s was driven by a need for additional bandwidth, the incentive to migrate to 40 Gb/s is an economic one, Wellbrock said. With 40-Gb/s links, MCI will be able to reduce the number of transponders in its network by a factor of four.

The promise of greater network flexibility led MCI to plan on beginning a migration from OADMs to ROADMs in the first half of 2006. Among the challenges Wellbrock sees in that effort are added costs and a limited number of wavelength-selective switch suppliers.