New coherent optical technology allows Southern Cross to ride the Terabit wave.
Southern Cross has connected the world’s first transpacific 1 Tb/s single-carrier wavelength across its 13,500km live production network with Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) coherent optics.
The connectivity milestone saw WL6e perform effortlessly at 1 Tb/s over the world’s longest single optical submarine cable segment and demonstrates the adaptive nature of Southern Cross’ network.
Implementation of Ciena’s leading technology allows Southern Cross to enhance the reliability and resilience of connectivity throughout the Oceania region. This will support Southern Cross in meeting the evolving needs of end users requiring increasing bandwidth to support projected demand for AI, content, video and cloud applications.
The new channel speed ran error-free at 1 Tb/s on Southern Cross’ live production network between Sydney and Los Angeles demonstrating record-breaking capabilities and spectral efficiencies.
Southern Cross will begin volume deployment of WL6e in the first calendar quarter of 2025 across various segments of its network, including its Southern Cross NEXT cable supporting the lowest latency connectivity between Sydney/Auckland and Los Angeles.
Laurie Miller, President and CEO, Southern Cross Cables, said: “Transforming and modernizing our networks to support next-generation applications and growing bandwidth demands is part of our ongoing 20+ year commitment to the Pacific.
“Working with Ciena and adapting our network with their latest coherent optical solution illustrates our pledge to the ongoing enhancement of critical digital infrastructure for our region. Southern Cross’ eco-system provides a vital gateway between Australia and the United States by connecting 20+ key nodes located across Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and the US West Coast to global digital markets.”
Dino DiPerna, Senior Vice President, Global Research and Development, Ciena, said: “As AI and cloud applications continue to increase capacity requirements for data centers, cloud and service providers are working with private cable operators like Southern Cross to expand their footprint and offer reliable connectivity. With Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 high performance optics, these service providers can support the move towards 800G services to connect data centers and build AI-ready networks with greater scale.”
Southern Cross owns and operates three diverse Trans-Pacific submarine cables connecting Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Hawaii to the mainland United States, along with the Pacific Islands of Nukunonu, Tokelau and Kiritimati, Kiribati.
The network has around 45,000 kilometers of submarine and 4,300 kilometers of terrestrial fiber optic cables providing over 100 Tb/s of digital inter-connectivity capability providing secure, resilient and reliable connectivity across the Pacific.
Southern Cross is currently undertaking the Southern Cross Tasman Express project which will be a high-capacity SDM express route, providing 240Tbs+ of data-centre connectivity between Sydney and Auckland.
