Infinera announced this week that Gulf Bridge International (GBI) has deployed Infinera’s ICE6 800G optical engine across its submarine and terrestrial networks between the Middle East and Europe to increase capacity in preparation for the World Cup, which commences this Sunday. The upgrade to ICE6 doubles GBI’s network capacity and provides connections of up to 800G per wavelength. GBI was able to rapidly and seamlessly integrate this new technology over its existing third-party optical line system by leveraging open optical networking principles. The integration of this technology enables GBI to provide high-speed streaming of the World Cup and offer 400 GbE services to its customers.
Infinera’s ICE6-powered GX Series solution delivers the ultra-high capacity needed to meet increasing bandwidth demand to ensure that GBI’s customers enjoy a high-quality, uninterrupted game-day experience during the world’s largest football competition and beyond. With Infinera’s industry-leading optical engine, GBI can minimize the cost per bit of its submarine and terrestrial networks while also maximizing spectral efficiency and fiber capacity. This is achieved through unique features that include Nyquist subcarriers, forward error correction gain sharing, and photonic integrated circuit-based technology.
“Upgrading our networks with Infinera’s ICE6 solution was easy and seamless, allowing us to leverage our existing optical transport architecture while upgrading our network to meet today’s demand,” said Gavin Rea, Chief Technical Officer at GBI. “With the World Cup quickly approaching, it was critical for us to ensure our network had the terabits of capacity needed to give our customers reliable, high-speed service to deliver the best viewing experience. That’s exactly what we’ll be offering our customers across Europe and the Middle East this week thanks to Infinera.”
“Modernizing GBI’s submarine and terrestrial Smart Network with Infinera’s ICE6 solution is a significant step forward in ensuring GBI remains a leading service provider, offering differentiated services such as 400 GbE to its customers,” said Nick Walden, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Infinera. “GBI operates key routes throughout the Middle East and European markets, and we are pleased to equip them with the highest capacity and most innovative services available.”