Viettel has boosted the capacity of Vietnam’s national optical backbone using Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) technology, while successfully completing a WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) field trial reaching 1.6 Tbps per channel. The network upgrade, deployed on Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform by local partner Elcom, positions Viettel to serve hyperscalers and AI-driven cloud providers expanding across Southeast Asia.
The WL5e deployment enables Viettel to scale from 4 Tbps to 25.2 Tbps—over six times its previous backbone capacity—while supporting programmable 600 Gbps wavelengths spanning more than 1,000 km. The network also integrates Ciena’s Navigator Network Control Suite for lifecycle automation and operational efficiency. Viettel selected Ciena for its Layer 0 control plane expertise and coherent optical capabilities, seen as essential to supporting 5G rollout and bandwidth-intensive AI and cloud applications.
Viettel’s WL6e trial achieved 1.6 Tbps over a single optical channel—doubling its existing wavelength capacity and validating a path to future 800 GbE services. The results highlight the scalability of Ciena’s coherent technology as Viettel prepares to expand both domestic and international connectivity.
• Viettel expands optical backbone from 4 Tbps to 25.2 Tbps using Ciena WaveLogic 5 Extreme
• Programmable 600 Gbps wavelengths over >1,000 km links
• WL6e trial delivers 1.6 Tbps per channel — doubling previous capacity
• Deployment executed by Elcom with Ciena Navigator automation suite
• Enables future 800 GbE services and AI data traffic growth
“Optical backbones are critical to providing the connectivity needed to continue Vietnam’s reputation as a fast-growing digital economy in Southeast Asia,” said Wendy Le, Country Lead, Vietnam, Ciena. “Together with Viettel, Ciena is helping build the connectivity foundation essential to help Vietnam maintain its pace of growth in the AI era, all while optimizing carbon footprint, power, and capacity.”
🌐 Analysis: Viettel’s leap to WL5e and early validation of WL6e demonstrate Vietnam’s accelerating role in regional AI and cloud connectivity. The 25.2 Tbps backbone represents a major step toward hyperscaler-ready capacity, echoing similar upgrades underway across Asia-Pacific by players like Singtel and PLDT. Ciena’s rapid adoption of WL6e coherent optics in live networks underscores how 1.6 Tbps channels are moving from lab trials to real-world deployment as the next performance benchmark.
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