By Submarine Cable NewsFeed
Pacific Crossing Limited, the operator of
the only independent, carrier-neutral transpacific cable system – PC-1, working closely with its technology partner, Fujitsu, has become the first company to
operate a Terabit of lit capacity across the Pacific Ocean.
The company has announced the completion of a systems-wide upgrade, which brings online an
additional 600 Gbps of transpacific capacity to its system, bringing its total transpacific lit capacity to just over the 1Tbps threshold.
The new core
network upgrade, powered by Fujitsu's Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE), FLASHWAVE S650, represents a re-engineering of PC-1's transmission and traffic
management layers, extending PCL's maximum capacity by more than three-fold while facilitating the future deployment of advanced network interfaces and service
options. The six-month contract was completed without any disruption to existing network traffic.
“The completion of our network upgrade not only represents
a new platform for our services, but also signifies the completion of PCL's reengineering as a company,” said Mark Simpson, CEO of Pacific Crossing. “It clearly
shows our ability to execute and that we're back in business after our financial and corporate restructuring, and ready to deliver services to our
customers.”
The new Fujitsu equipment replaces the previous PC-1 system, which had a design capacity cap of 640 Gbps, with a new platform that boosts the
design capacity to at least 3 Tbps. The new core platform also supports advanced networking features such as Ethernet and beyond networking interfaces as well as
advanced wavelength-level access. Capacity on PC-1 is available to customers in bandwidth increments ranging from STM-1 to 10G waves with flexible fully protected
and unprotected subscription options.
“Fujitsu develops high performance, innovative solutions that are designed to extend the capabilities of our operator
partners,” said Dr. Terumi Chikama, corporate vice president, Fujitsu Submarine Networks. “The Fujitsu SLTE now enables PCL to support dramatically higher bandwidth
requirements while maintaining its industry leading performance across the Pacific.”
The Fujitsu FLASHWAVE S650 now brings dramatically enhanced flexibility
and performance management features to Pacific Crossing's infrastructure, ensuring the highest service quality and reliability for its customers.
“The
growing popularity of high-bandwidth Internet applications such as video and other forms of multimedia, interactive services, are driving bandwidth consumption on a
global scale, and in particular, across the Pacific due to the growing economic importance of Asia,” Simpson said. “Our new platform, combined with our industry
leading performance, network reliability and flexible subscription options, now offers our customers an unmatched solution across the vast Pacific Ocean.”
As
part of the core network upgrade, Pacific Crossing has also put in place extensive dark backhaul between its cable landing stations in Harbour Pointe, Washington,
and Grover Beach, California, to its PoPs in Seattle, San Jose, Palo Alto, and Los Angeles. Together with its existing backhaul facilities in Japan, PCL now offers
city-to-city connectivity across the Pacific.