Southern Cross Cable Limited achieved a major milestone by deploying the world’s first transpacific 1 Tb/s single-carrier wavelength transmission leveraging Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) coherent optics. The record-breaking achievement spans 13,500 km between Sydney and Los Angeles, showcasing the scalability and adaptability of Southern Cross’ network. This deployment represents a significant advancement in submarine cable technology, enhancing capacity and reliability across the Pacific.
The new 1 Tbps channel ran error-free on Southern Cross’ live production network, including its Southern Cross NEXT cable, which offers the lowest latency connectivity between Oceania and the US West Coast. With WL6e,
Southern Cross is poised to support surging bandwidth demands driven by AI, video, cloud applications, and content delivery. Volume deployment of WL6e technology across various network segments will begin in the first quarter of 2025, enabling end-to-end connectivity for higher-capacity services like 400GbE and 800GbE.
Laurie Miller, President and CEO of Southern Cross, highlighted the strategic importance of modernizing critical digital infrastructure: “Working with Ciena and adapting our network with their latest coherent optical solution illustrates our pledge to ongoing enhancement for the Pacific region.” Ciena’s Dino DiPerna noted the significance of supporting AI-ready networks: “With WaveLogic 6, service providers can connect data centers with greater scale and prepare for 800G services.”
• Record-Breaking Transmission: First transpacific 1 Tb/s implementation using Ciena’s WL6e, spanning 13,500 km between Sydney and Los Angeles.
• Expanded Capacity: WL6e enables more than 100 times the capacity of the original network design.
• Network Overview: Southern Cross operates 45,000 km of submarine and 4,300 km of terrestrial fiber optic cables connecting Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and Hawaii to the US.
• Technology Integration: Utilizes Ciena’s GeoMesh Extreme solution, including the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, to provide enhanced efficiency and scalability.
• Future-Ready Services: Supports 400GbE and 800GbE client services with lower power and space requirements.