Nokia, Optus unveil ultra-low-latency Sydney to Melbourne network

In terms of all forms of communications in Australia, Sydney to Melbourne is by far the most prestigious, important and lucrative, and to upgrade and improve the 1,200 km networking connection between the two cities, operator Optus has announced it will install Nokia IP and optical network technology, including a 1830 photonic service switch (PSS), utilising photonic service engines (PSE) and turnkey engineering services.

The long-haul network will address the growing requirements for more capacity and low-latency connectivity on the Optus network, along with those of wholesale and enterprise customers.

It will aim to improve the Optus customer experience with the ability to transport data at rates between 19.2Tb/s and 28.8Tb/s per fibre pair, providing unprecedented datacentre interconnection (DCI) capacity.

As part of the agreement, the network will support the transport of 400GbE services over 400G/600G optical channels, and Optus will have the ability to upgrade the long-haul infrastructure offering to support future services, such as 800GbE transport services.

The implementation is based on fifth-generation PSE (PSE-V), which will support 400G capacity and 600G over some routes, allowing Optus, said Nokia, to effectively have the ability to maximise the capability of its fibre infrastructure.

The Nokia 1830 PSS, with its flagship chipset PSE-V, is designed to enable service providers like Optus to add capacity and provide high-speed, low-latency connectivity with optimal footprint and reduced power consumption.

It’s also attributed to letting Optus deploy services rapidly, reduce network TCO, extend network lifecycles and transform traditional DWDM into a flexible transport layer, with capabilities such as 100G–600G transport wavelengths, agile wavelength routing, and scalable multilayer switching and services.

The platforms can scale from compact access to the converged Optical Transport Network (OTN)/DWDM core, supporting a range of applications and services, including metro and long-haul transport broadband backhaul, datacentre interconnect, multicast video, carrier ethernet and wavelength services.

“Building a world-class long-haul network between two major economic hubs, Sydney and Melbourne, reiterates our commitment to provide the best-in-class connectivity to our enterprise and wholesale customers,” said Optus vice-president of wholesale and satellite John Castro.

“We are excited by the optionality this affords Optus, in being able to seamlessly upgrade our network to service the future demands for 600G and 800G transport services,” he said. “Nokia’s solution helps address the growing demands for more capacity, and allows us to better service our customers and the market more broadly.”

Antonio Ruggiero, head of optical networks at Nokia Oceania, added: “Nokia is proud to support our long-standing partner, Optus, in the continued evolution of its long-haul network. The new network brings down the cost per bit while making it easier for Optus to upgrade to 800GbE in the future, ensuring its network is ready to meet the ever-growing demand for capacity in the enterprise and wholesale market.”