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Networks & Infrastructure
Meriton Nabs Korean Optical Network Deal
KT to use Vendor's ROADM Functionality for Flexible Bandwidth
by Jim Barthold
Canadian network vendor Meriton will provide its Agile Optical
Networking (AON) architecture technology as a piece of the
Intelligent-WDM (I-WDM) build-out that KT – formerly Korea
Telecom – is architecting in South Korea.
The KT network topology is similar to the ROADM
(Reconfigurable Add-Drop Multiplexer) architectures that cable
operators have been deploying to carry video content in large
metro areas in the North American market and that some
North American carriers are also starting to adopt as demands
for business and residential bandwidth spiral upward.
“The bandwidth is variable and you don’t know where the next
need is going to come from,” said Michael Howard, principal
analyst and co-founder of Infonetics Research. ROADM
technology allows the operator to add or drop a wavelength at
any ROADM-equipped node, he said.
“The other critical capability is that you can remotely
reconfigure the wavelength pathways,” he said. “That’s the
dynamic-ness – not moment-to-moment dynamic-ness – of
the network so that you can use available wavelengths in the
same way you can logical pathways on routed networks.”
KT already has the aggregation coming in from the access “so
we fit quite nicely into their first levels into the metro,” said
Mike Pascoe, president-CEO at Meriton Networks. “They’re
one of the earlier drivers of gigabit PON technology using
fiber right into the basements. They can get a very broad
service, 50 meg and even higher to their subscribers, and
that really stresses the network behind that access. That’s
where we come in.”
Meriton’s gear has a switching capacity up to 320 gigabits and
that, said Pascoe, is not overkill in most markets. for
example, KT is first deploying the gear in a Seoul suburb, not
the giant city itself.
“We’re seeing more carriers start to provide these Gig-E
services to enterprises,” he said. “More importantly, it
provides video services to the consumer. It does depend on
the service offerings and the density, but for most cities in
most countries in the world, the numbers are not out of line
once they start providing these services.”
The KT contract is somewhat of a coup for Meriton, which does
a lot of business with tier 2/3 carriers in the North American
market.
“Any tier one player is a coup for whoever wins it. These kinds
of networks are being built and the contracts are being let for
dynamic WDM layer at the bottom of metro and regional long-
haul networks,” Howard said.
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