Seaborn Networks will use Xtera’s wideband repeater to enable C+L band capability for its new ARBR cable between São Paulo and Buenos Aires.
The ARBR submarine fibre optic cable system, which is a fully-funded project developed jointly by Seaborn Networks and the Werthein Group. The 2,700 km open system, 4-fibre pair, 48Tbps, direct PoP-to-PoP subsea cable will connect Argentina and Brazil. The ARBR subsea cable system will allow for direct onward connectivity to New York, via the new Seabras-1 system.
Xtera’s wideband repeater is a hybrid Raman / EDFA design and can be configured to provide bandwidth in the C band alone, or across the C+L bands. First deployed in 2015, Xtera’s addition of Raman amplification to standard repeater technology has been used to achieve bandwidths of approximately 70 nm, while also offering very low noise solutions. Xtera said development continues to increase the capacity on a fibre pair to well over 100Tbit/s, further demonstrating that high capacity solutions do not have to mean large and costly fibre count systems.
In comparison, standard subsea repeaters use a single frequency band to carry the traffic. Seaborn said that by putting both the C and L frequency bands into ARBR’s cable on a fiber pair basis, it can pick and choose which fiber pair uses both bands and which use a single band, therefore enabling a choice between the most cost-efficient deployment of a fiber pair (single band) or an ultra-high capacity fiber pair (C+L). Seaborn is therefore able to tailor the subsea solution of each fiber pair to match the needs of different customers. For instance, carriers, ISPs and enterprise customers need affordable bandwidth from Argentina, whereas hyper-scalers need the assurance of ultra-high capacity throughout the life of the cable system.
“We work constantly with our partners and customers in this dynamic Latin American market to develop subsea cable systems that meet their future bandwidth demands,” says Larry Schwartz, Chairman & CEO of Seaborn. “Use of Xtera’s technology on the ARBR system will allow Seaborn to offer the most advanced system under the sea with on-demand capacities of up to 44Tbit/s per fiber pair. Disruptive innovation like this resonates with our content provider customers and positions us to respond to their needs well into the future.”
Xtera in conversation with Verizon – part 1
The evolution of optical transport technology in terrestrial and subsea networks as we approach Shannon’s limit is the topic of discussion in this conversation with Glenn Wellbrock, Director, Backbone Network Design, Verizon, Stuart Barnes, Chairman and CSO, Xtera, and Vijay Rudravajjala, VP Engineering, Xtera.
See video:
