GEC NEWS WIREAlcatel-Lucent and Zain KSA completed an Agile Optical Network to provide ultra-broadband access
Alcatel-Lucent and Zain KSA announced the completion of an Agile Optical Network to provide ultra-broadband access throughout Saudi Arabia. The fiber-optic backbone network is based on converged wavelength division multiplexing/optical transport (WDM/OTN) technology, enabling Zain to provide 100 gigabits-per-second (100G) capability throughout the country main metros.
Hassan Hasbani, CEO of Zain said, “Zain Saudi Arabia is the first operator in the Middle East to deploy Alcatel-Lucent’s Agile Optical Network technology over an existing fiber network. The growing appetite for bandwidth hungry mobile devices and applications is driving tremendous demand throughout our network and taking this approach provides high-capacity with the flexibility and efficiency to serve our customers today and in the future. The 400G trial underscores our leadership within the Middle East and reinforces our commitment to maintaining leading-edge high-speed Internet capability.”
Zain and Alcatel-Lucent are also conducting a trial of 400 Gigabit-per-second (Gbps) data transmission over an existing optical link carrying live network traffic in the major western city of Jeddah. Alcatel-Lucent’s 400G optical solution, based on the 400 Gbps Photonic Service Engine (PSE) platform, supports the emergence of new high-bandwidth, high-performance.
Amr K. El Leithy, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s Middle East and Turkey region said, “The geography of Saudi Arabia is challenging so Zain was looking for a technology provider to build an ultra-broadband network foundation that can serve a wide territory both cost-efficiently and effectively. Plus, as the first operators in the Middle East to experience the capabilities of the 400G technology, Zain has positioned itself at the forefront of high-capacity optical networking.”
