Alcatel-Lucent and ACE achieve breakthrough for upgrade using 300G/400G technology

Alcatel-Lucent and the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) consortium have successfully completed a field trial on the existing ACE system, which connects France to the west coast of Africa, based on 300 gigabit-per-second (Gbit/s) and 400 Gbit/s technology. They achieved a breakthrough transmission of 12.6 terabits-per-second (Tbit/s) of data per fiber pair.

Based on the Alcatel-Lucent 1620 Light Manager submarine line terminal using optical coherent technology, the field trial demonstrated more than a fivefold increase in the system’s initial design capability, setting a new record for capacity upgrades. Ultimate capacity upgrade is optimized through different wavelength bit rate for regional (400G) and transoceanic (300G) distances.

Yves Ruggeri, Chairman of the ACE Management Committee said: “This field trial demonstrates the ability to support higher speeds and capacity in a seamless way, meeting the needs for optimizing the total cost of network ownership and without impacting the system performance. The scalability up to 400G offered by Alcatel-Lucent in a single board show the adaptability of the solution for addressing the need for expanding system capabilities on any distance.”

Philippe Dumont, President of Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks said: “Our mission is to offer customers efficient solutions which help meet the global explosion of traffic demand being placed on submarine networks. Our sustained investment in R&D enables us to introduce 300G/400G technology, providing innovations that will maximize systems capacity from regional to transoceanic distances.”

ABOUT ACE

ACE interconnects today 16 countries including thirteen African Countries seven of which are connected to the global Internet backbone for the first time. With an initial cable design capacity of 5.12 Terabit/s, ACE provides a high speed data network that cost-effectively support innovative broadband services such as e-education and healthcare applications and that is designed to address present and future needs for connectivity and capacity. The overall system spans 17,500 km and phase I, which was operational from 19th December, 2012, covers 11,500 km linking Sao Tomé and Principe to France - via Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, The Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, Tenerife (Spain) and Portugal. The Phase II comprises future extension of 5000 km to South Africa potentially linking Namibia, Angola and Democratic Republic of Congo, including extension to Cameroon.