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Australia Japan Cable Upgrades Submarine Link with Ciena 40G Coherent WaveLogic Technology

Announcement posted by Ciena 14 Mar 2012

Ciena’s 40G optical networking solution positions AJC to address surging bandwidth demands between Japan-Australia corridor
LINTHICUM, Md. – March 14, 2012 – Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN), the network specialist, today announced it was selected by Australia Japan Cable (AJC) to expand its subsea cable route spanning approximately 12,700 kilometers between Sydney, Guam and Japan. Ciena’s market-leading coherent 40 Gigabits per second (40G) optical networking solutions will equip AJC to address exponential growth in demand being fueled by high-bandwidth services and applications in the Asia-Pacific region. The upgraded network will also play an important role supporting Australia’s international connectivity benefiting businesses and consumers across Australia.

Key Facts:

    AJC is a submarine cable directly connecting Australia and Japan, via Guam. To enable onward connectivity, the AJC network provides access to high-capacity, high-volume, and low unit cost trans-Pacific and intra-Asia cables via Guam and Japan.

    AJC will deploy Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform with 40G technology that will allow AJC to cost-effectively and expeditiously address surging bandwidth demands on routes supported by AJC. Leveraging Ciena’s industry-leading WaveLogic coherent optical processors, the upgraded submarine cable network will add a total of 560 Gigabits per second (Gbps) of capacity. The deployment will also give AJC the ability to scale to 100G wavelengths as bandwidth demands evolve.

    The 6500 platform’s OTN capabilities also allow AJC to accommodate new OTN-based wholesale services into the market.

    AJC is also deploying Ciena’s OneControl Unified Management System which will provide a comprehensive solution to manage mission operations for rapid service turn-up, unsurpassed visibility through protocol layers for troubleshooting, and efficient use of assets and bandwidth.

Executive Quotes:

  • “We selected Ciena after a stringent selection and trial process because of their demonstrable track record in deploying 40G Coherent solution for segments over 7,000 kilometers in reach. The ability to expeditiously augment AJC’s existing capacity plus support OTN services from day one also played a key role noting the continually increasing data volumes carried by AJC.”

-          David Crofts, CEO, AJC

  • “Submarine networks carry the majority of all international traffic between continents, so they play a key role in addressing the global demand for bandwidth. Further, while Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN) will certainly offer high bandwidth within Australia’s borders, the majority of traffic will come from overseas and it is for this reason that submarine networks are crucial to a country aiming to maximize the potential of the NBN. Ciena’s 40G/100G technology enables submarine operators to increase existing undersea cable capacities without having to install new undersea cables, which are costly, risky, and time-consuming to deploy.”

-          Anthony McLachlan, Vice President and General Manager, Asia Pacific, Ciena

Technology Leadership and Product Background:

    Ciena's WaveLogic coherent receiver technology enables unobtrusive 40G/100G upgrades to existing submarine networks with only the addition of new terminal equipment, significantly extending the life of existing cable plants and further lengthening its lifespan.

    Ciena is the pioneer and market leader of coherent optical technology with more than 10,000 coherent 40G/100G line interfaces shipped to more than 100 customer deployments over land and undersea across the globe, including deployments in eight countries across the Asia Pacific region.

    Ciena is also the pioneer in intelligent switching, with more than 2,000 control plane-enabled nodes deployed worldwide with several mesh networks that circle the globe.

Supporting Resources and Multimedia:

    Submarine Application Note: Submarine Solutions for an Increasingly Competitive Market

    Coherent Application Note: Coherent Optical Processing for High-Capacity Networks

    Data Sheet: 6500 Packet-Optical Platform

    Video: What is Coherent Optical Networking?

    Video: Ciena Intelligent Infrastructure Solutions 

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About Ciena

Ciena is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of their networks and fundamentally change the way they perform and compete. With focused innovation, Ciena brings together the reliability and capacity of optical networking with the flexibility and economics of Ethernet, unified by a software suite that delivers the industry’s leading network automation. We routinely post recent news, financial results and other important announcements and information about Ciena on our website. For more information, visit www.ciena.com

Note to Ciena Investors

Forward-looking statements. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-Q, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 8, 2012. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Australia Japan Cable

Australia-Japan Cable is a 12,700km optical fibre ring submarine cable telecommunications network, directly connecting Australia and Japan, via Guam. AJC is equipped with Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology initially equipped with 10Gbit/s wavelengths with an original design capacity of up to 32 waves per fibre pair on each of two fibre pairs.  A collapsed ring configuration is used, where the fibre pairs share a common sheath on a historically safe route between branching units in 4000m plus water depths and the fibre pairs separate for diverse landings into each of Australia, Guam and Japan.  The use of two separate cable stations in each of Australia, Guam and Japan provides security against shallow water risks and increases telecommunication routing options.  For more information, visit www.ajcable.com