Norway’s UNINETT Selects Coriant 100G Solution for Arctic Optical Network

Coriant® hiT 7300 Multi-Haul Transport Platform Brings Reliable, High-Speed Connectivity to the World’s Northernmost Scientific Research and Education Community

Coriant, a global supplier of SDN-enabled end-to-end transport networking solutions, announced it has been selected by UNINETT, a non-profit provider of telecom and data network connections to Norwegian universities and research institutions, to build a new 100G-capable subsea optical transport infrastructure connecting Ny-Ålesund and Longyearbyen on the Svalbard archipelago. The Coriant solution, which includes the industry-leading Coriant® hiT 7300 Multi-Haul Transport Platform and the Coriant® Transport Network Management System (TNMS), will enable UNINETT to cost-efficiently scale optical transmission capacity and meet the low latency connectivity requirements of demanding, high-bandwidth scientific research and education traffic and applications.

The northernmost civilian year-round settlement in the world, Ny-Ålesund is an important international research community that hosts a broad range of life, earth, and environmental scientists. Eleven institutions from ten countries have established permanent research stations in Ny-Ålesund, and an increase in research activities, including plans for a new astronomical research observatory, is one of the primary drivers behind the need for higher network capacities. Real-time and near-real time astronomy data transmission is one example of the types of research and education applications requiring reliable, high-speed connectivity.

“High-speed global collaboration and real-time exchange of media-rich data and applications are critical to research and educational institutions, and serve as the life blood of research communities like Ny-Ålesund,” said Vidar Faltinsen, Chief Technology Officer, UNINETT. “In order help us achieve our goal of bringing our customers state-of-the art broadband communications, we needed a proven technology partner that could deliver a highly reliable and flexible DWDM solution, with the service expertise to support network deployment and service commissioning in Svalbard’s particularly harsh environment. Coriant proved the ideal partner on all fronts.”

Serving as Submarine Line Terminal Equipment (SLTE), the Coriant hiT 7300 LH/ULH platform will provide UNINETT with coherent 100G connectivity between Ny-Ålesund and Longyearbyen in a DWDM subsea application spanning approximately 260 kilometers. The new network is designed to maximize utilization of deployed fiber resources and deliver reliable wavelength and sub-wavelength services to a large end-user community, including more than 200 Norwegian research and educational institutions and more than 300,000 users. With the industry’s most advanced optical link control and GMPLS-based restoration capabilities, the hiT 7300 delivers the optimal optical performance, stability, and availability, especially in operating environments of dynamic change, such as unrepeated and unamplified subsea applications. Service management for the UNINETT network will be provided by the proven service and network management capabilities of TNMS, which create a rich set of tools that enable UNINETT to simplify capacity provisioning and lower operating costs.

“Coriant has a wealth of experience in providing robust and reliable optical transport solutions for hybrid subsea and terrestrial networks,” said Uwe Fischer, Chief Technology Officer, Coriant. “We continue to build our industry leadership on superior photonic layer performance, stability, and scalability, with proven features such as active power transient management and integrated high-density LH/ULH ROADMs that ensure the high-availability required by UNINETT’s customers.”