Qwest Upgrading Backbone to 100G bps

Deploying Alcatel-Lucent's Ethernet service routing capability, Qwest said Sept. 2 it plans to deliver speeds of up to 100G bps to enterprise and government customers. The next-generation network will allow business customers to handle broadband-intensive services such as unified communications, video, multimedia and virtualized applications.

At 100G bps, a 2-hour high-definition movie or presentation can be transmitted in less than 9 seconds. As a result of the advanced technology, the network will need fewer regeneration sites and will rely on advances in silicon power handling. Qwest expects the improvements to produce gains in power efficiency on a per-gigabit basis.

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"This ... upgrade ... allows Qwest to meet the very real challenges of responding to data consumption trends. Qwest is satisfying customers’ appetites for increasingly sophisticated applications while honoring the need to be more resource-efficient," Pieter Poll, Qwest's chief technology officer, said in a statement.

With Internet traffic doubling approximately every 19 months, Qwest said the upgrade directly addresses and alleviates pressure on the network backbone. The additional capacity will also allow for more diverse bandwidth options, support enhanced network protection capabilities and reduce overall latency.

"As a Tier One national carrier, Qwest is engineering today's network for tomorrow's growth in mind with all of the capabilities needed to handle broadband-intensive services like the next suite of unified communications, video, multimedia and virtualized applications," said Basil Alwan, head of carrier portfolio strategy at Alcatel-Lucent. "Through our advanced IP and optical technology, Alcatel-Lucent is helping Qwest create a nationwide backbone critical for its strategic IP transformation.”