Zayo makes waves with world's longest 800G optical wave

Zayo Group has made history with the world's longest 800G optical wave, beating the former world record by 74.5km.

The global provider of fibre-based communications solutions, Zayo Group Holdings, and Infinera, a global supplier of networking solutions, have announced the successful completion of the world's longest known terrestrial 800G optical wavelength in a commercial network of 1,044.51km.

The Zayo-owned fibre route stretches from Springville, Utah, to Reno, Nevada and is lit and powered by Infinera's ICE6 800G coherent technology.

The highest-capacity commercially available line-side wavelength supported in production networks is 800G, and 800G waves have historically been limited by distance. But through advancements in technology and improved fibre network performance, Zayo and Infinera are helping push 800G further into Zayos optical network. Extending large wavelengths across greater distances makes services more cost-effective and capable to end-users.

Zayo has been making significant investments in its fibre network throughout North America and Western Europe, including 31 high-capacity, 400G-enabled long-haul routes and its first production interstate 800G wave in the United States. Larger wavelengths provide significant network bandwidth expansion necessary to power high-definition content, 5G cell networks, IoT, remote work and more.

"Zayo continues to achieve what wasn't previously possible as part of our efforts to provide best-in-class connectivity services and enable our customer's growth," says Zayo vice president of Lit Networks, Aaron Werley.

"We look to the goals of our customers to inform our evolution, and the demand for 800G is being driven by a need for more bandwidth at higher line rates, all while leveraging the cost-effectiveness of high-capacity wavelengths covering longer distances. We are grateful to our partners at Infinera, whose hardware solutions pushed the limits, and our outstanding Zayo team members who helped make this accomplishment possible."

Tom Burns, general manager of Infinera's Optical Modules - Coherent Solutions Group, says, "At Infinera, our vision is a connected world with unlimited bandwidth for everyone everywhere, always, and instantly. We have built our company on a history of challenging conventional thinking and reimagining the telecommunications industry to power the modern enterprise.

"There's no better way to demonstrate a commitment to innovation than chasing and breaking world records in network connectivity. This is a groundbreaking moment, and we're proud to have partnered with Zayo to make history."

Zayo's 134,000-mile network in North America and Europe includes extensive metro connectivity to thousands of buildings and data centers. Zayo's communications infrastructure solutions include dark fibre, private data networks, wavelengths, Ethernet, dedicated internet access and data center connectivity solutions. Zayo owns and operates a Tier 1 IP backbone, and through its CloudLink service, Zayo provides low-latency private connectivity that attaches enterprises to their public cloud environments.

Infinera is a global supplier of open optical networking solutions that enable carriers, cloud operators, governments, and enterprises to scale network bandwidth, accelerate service innovation, and automate network operations.