Telecom Ramblings

There is no shortage these days of tests with 100G somewhere Verizon (NYSE:VZ - chart, news, filings) in the title, but today Verizon announced the successful completion of a 100 Gigabit Ethernet field trial on a metropolitan Ethernet infrastructure.  The test was performed using Alcatel-Lucent gear deployed in Verizon’s Switched Ethernet Services network and successfully transmitted data over approximately 12.7 kilometers (7.9 miles).

That may not sound like much, but the metro link is an important part of the 100GE puzzle, and Verizon’s aim was to make it work economically.  In the words of Verizon’s Jean McManus:

“Our goal is to show 100GE can be carried on a metro network and do it with current equipment that avoids major changes — and the associated costs — to the existing network infrastructure.”

Most other 100G tests have been various flavors of the longhaul side, so its nice to see other important network building blocks falling into place as well.  But as for one of the stated reasons for 100GE work in the metro being wireless backhaul, I don’t think we’re going to see many towers fed by one of these pipes for a long time.

The gear used in the trial was the Alcatel-Lucent 7450 with new plug-in cards to put 100G on a single fiber.