For the deployment, Alcatel-Lucent has provided Sky with its 100G next generation optical coherent technology, which takes advantage of unique Bell Labs silicon innovations to support data speeds of 100 gigabits-per-second on each of the 88 wavelengths of an optical fibre. This represents a significant boost in network capacity and performance.
Alcatel-Lucent’s 100G solution is designed to address operators’ need to deliver more and more bandwidth while keeping costs in check. Because it can be deployed on its existing optical infrastructure, Sky is able to support 100G capacity through a relatively simple, quick and cost effective in-service network upgrade.
Mohamed Hammady, Director of Sky Network Services said: “Millions of Sky customers use our broadband network to enjoy video and other high bandwidth services. Part of the reason we have been the UK’s fastest growing ISP since our launch in 2006 is that we offer a high-quality, good value and reliable service that’s genuinely unlimited and is free from any form of traffic management. We can do this because of the investment we make in our state-of-the-art, all-fiber core trunk network. With the introduction of Alcatel-Lucent’s leading edge technology, we only enhance our ability to define the Sky broadband experience through our high capacity core network.”
Sky has put the 100G services into operation in its fiber-optic backbone network, which is supported by dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical technology. Alcatel-Lucent’s 1626 Light Manager, enhanced with 100G next-generation coherent technology through the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS), is a step towards a fully optical network, bringing improved network performance and reducing the costs of network operation.
Lucy Dimes, CEO UK & Ireland at Alcatel-Lucent, said: “High-definition video and other broadband services are driving up the volume of data being transported on networks today. This trend is driving us to continuously introduce new innovations into our portfolio, while ensuring that our customers can continue to benefit from the investments they have already made. The introduction of 100G with Sky offers a clear example of the benefits to this approach. It also reinforces our leadership in 100G - 15 months since our launch of this technology we are still the only vendor capable of delivering this kind of speed and capacity on existing networks.”
The Alcatel-Lucent 1830 PSS is a central element of Alcatel-Lucent’s Converged Backbone Transformation (CBT) solution, a key domain of the Alcatel-Lucent High Leverage Network™ (HLN) architecture, which is designed to cut transport costs and dramatically reduce operational complexity in core networks.