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JULY 15, 2008 -- Sprint (search for Sprint), Cisco, and Ciena say they are implementing 40-Gbit/sec network capabilities on the Global Sprint Tier 1 IP Network using Cisco's Internet Protocol over DWDM (IPoDWDM) technology. The implementation is designed to support the needs of Sprint customers who are looking to adopt next-generation services, grow their businesses, and enable their employees to conduct day-to-day tasks, simply and immediately.
The announcement builds upon Sprint's deployment of the Cisco (search for Cisco) CRS-1 Carrier Routing System. In 2004, Sprint and Cisco used CRS-1 routers to conduct the first 40-Gbit/sec technology trial with live-production traffic. Sprint began deploying them in its IP core network in 2006. Today, Sprint CRS-1 routers are deployed in more than 25 U.S. cities.
Sprint is further enhancing its network by deploying 40-Gbit/sec circuits and expanding available capacity for its customers. Earlier this year, Sprint completed final testing of the 40-Gbit/sec IPoDWDM technology and enabled its first production 40-Gbits/sec circuit. The link used the Cisco CRS-1 with built-in transponders along with Ciena's (search for Ciena) CoreStream Agility platform to transport the wavelength across the fiber-optic network. The companies say that "several" 40-Gbit/sec circuits have now been deployed and are carrying commercial IP-based services.
Sprint began deploying CoreStream in its Tier 1 IP backbone in 2000 and has more than 1,000 nodes deployed across its network. Meanwhile, IPoDWDM can also position Sprint to rapidly move to higher data rates (e.g., 100 Gbits/sec) without overhauling the network infrastructure, according to Cisco. In a separate announcement, the Cisco also unveiled enhancements to its IPoWDM offering.
"Sprint's network capabilities support the growing use of the Internet, as well as the growth we are seeing with Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) services -- and our efforts to effectively migrate customers from legacy technologies to SprintLink IP and Global MPLS platforms," said Kathy Walker, chief information and network officer for Sprint. "Deployment of 40-Gbit/sec circuits throughout our IP core enables next-generation data, voice, and video applications and allows Sprint to scale its IP network to address customer needs, as IP increasingly becomes the basis of communications services."
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