Aqua Comms and Ciena Setting New Standards for Subsea Connectivity

9 December 2024

Aqua Comms and Ciena teams. (Image credit: Ciena)

Aqua Comms (“Aqua Comms”), a global leader in subsea telecommunications solutions, and Ciena, a global leader in networking systems, services, and software, have announced the first-ever 1.3 Tb/s wavelength transmission spanning 5500km across the Atlantic. This technical milestone was achieved using Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e), the industry’s first fully programmable coherent technology capable of wavelength speeds up to 1.6 Tb/s. The companies also obtained a second world-first, achieving 800 Gb/s wavelength transmission from USA to Ireland and back—a total unregenerated distance of over 11,000 km. This accomplishment leveraged fully adjustable baud and line rate capability of WL6e. WL6e was tuned from 200 GBaud to 150 GBaud during the trial, demonstrating how the technology can enable Aqua Comms to optimize capacity and make more efficient use of spectrum resources across its network.

These two ground-breaking achievements were proven on Aqua Comm’s AEC-1 cable route. By maximizing subsea transmission rates, Aqua Comms can improve spectral efficiency by roughly 15% and reduce power consumption by over 50% relative to the previous generation of Ciena transponders.

Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme. (Image credit: Ciena)

The trial has set new benchmarks for the industry providing 800 Gb/s wavelength transmission across a total distance of over 11,000 km using WL6e, demonstrating that ubiquitous transport of 800G clients can now be supported on a global scale.

“Aqua Comms’ multiple trans-Atlantic cables, powered by Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme, will keep ahead of ever-increasing bandwidth demands whilst contributing towards Aqua Comms’ goal of hitting 100% renewable energy by 2030,” said Thomas Grant, CNO at Aqua Comms. “These reductions align with industry goals to minimize the environmental footprint of subsea networks—a critical priority as we continue to connect the world more efficiently.”

“Ciena is once again setting new records with our industry-leading WaveLogic technology,” said Jamie Jefferies, Vice President and General Manager, International, Ciena. “Aqua Comms is an established leader in global subsea connectivity and these technology milestones are excellent examples of how they are preparing their network to satisfy surging bandwidth demands.”