Telstra has quadrupled the capacity of its Next IP network between Melbourne and Sydney to meet growing demand that is doubling data traffic on the network every 19 months.
Michael Rocca, Chief Operations Officer said the upgrade to the busiest link of Telstra’s network increases the capacity of the existing Dense Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) transmission from 10 to 40 Gbps.
“The Telstra Next IP network is the backbone for all our networks and our customers, particularly our enterprise and government customers, who have come to rely on its speed and capacity to drive productivity gains within their organisations,” Mr. Rocca said.
“This is the first of our intercapital routes to be upgraded and we expect to carry out similar upgrades to other major cities over the coming year.”
Sam Saba, Chief Executive Officer, Ericsson Australia and New Zealand, said that operators world-wide are planning the deployment of 40Gbps DWDM technology to cope with the fast-growing demand for broadband bandwidth.
“Telstra is at the forefront of the migration to next generation networks. Intercapital routes such as that between Melbourne and Sydney are expensive and complex to build, and Ericsson’s Marconi MHL 3000 DWDM solution enables Telstra to offer customers an improved service with minimal investment and changes to infrastructure,” said Mr. Saba.
The capacity upgrade was possibly by upgrading the hardware at each end of the fibre optic cable, in this case Telstra used Ericsson’s Marconi MHL 3000 platform delivering up to 80 channels at 40Gbps per channel over a single fibre pair.
Mr. Rocca also reaffirmed plans for upgrades to the Next IP network beyond 40Gbps.
“When we announced this upgrade last July we said there was a path to 100Gbps; this continues to be our direction,” Mr Rocca said.
“We have already successfully trialled Ericsson’s 100Gbps technology within our model environment and proven that the existing network still has great potential to continue expanding according to demand.”
