Telxius and Ciena have completed a record-setting 1.3 Tbps single-wavelength transmission across the 6,600km Marea submarine cable between Virginia Beach and Bilbao, marking an industry-first milestone for transatlantic optical networking. The trial, powered by Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) coherent optics, also achieved the highest spectral efficiency yet recorded for a transatlantic link at 7.0 bits/s/Hz.
The deployment reflects the accelerating need for high-capacity subsea bandwidth to support booming AI, video, cloud, and data center interconnect (DCI) traffic. The WL6e transceivers leverage advanced 3nm silicon to deliver 50% improvements in space and power efficiency per transmitted bit. Telxius plans to roll out WL6e across select subsea systems in its global footprint during 2025 and beyond.
Telxius operates a global fiber ecosystem spanning nine next-gen submarine cables, over 100,000 km of terrestrial backhaul, 26 landing stations and data centers, and 100 PoPs. The latest upgrade ensures the Marea cable will continue to provide high-performance, low-latency connectivity for next-generation AI and cloud applications.
- 1.3 Tbps single-wavelength transmission completed on Marea cable
- Achieved 7.0 bits/s/Hz spectral efficiency — highest ever for transatlantic link
- Powered by Ciena WaveLogic 6 Extreme coherent optics
- WL6e delivers 50% space and power savings per bit
- Telxius plans broader deployment across submarine network footprint
“We are committed to continually upgrading our network with new and enhanced systems to better support our customers,” said Carlos Dasi, CTIO, Telxius. “This latest milestone demonstrates our ability to deliver that capacity across even the vastest of distances in today’s bandwidth-hungry digital economy.”
