Batelco selects Ciena’s optical platform for new Gulf network

Batelco for mobileCiena said Batelco has selected its Converged Packet Optical Platform as the foundation for the new Batelco Gulf Network (BGN).

The BGN runs over an Optical Transfer Network (OTN) to meet the demand for cost effective high bandwidth connectivity and capacity for Batelco customers and international carriers’ wholesale needs, supporting up to 8.8Tbps and beyond.

Batelco is building the BGN cable system for connecting countries across the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) in the Arabian Gulf region. Batelco and its customers are facing demand for additional high-speed connectivity services as consumers and businesses are consuming more OTT content such as HD video and services from local and international providers.

Batelco will be investing in the BGN terrestrial fibre cable for 1,400km that can be interconnected with other regional and global cable systems for access to onward connectivity to Europe, Asia, Africa and the rest of the world.

Batelco Chief Global Business Officer Adel Al-Daylami said that Batelco chose to invest in the Batelco Gulf Network as a managed terrestrial fiber optic cable network, providing the country an international gateway that will enable Bahrain to meet the growing demand for data services and applications.

Insurance firm Helvetia has selected Ciena for a data center interconnect (DCI) network between its major data hubs in Switzerland.

Helvetia will leverage Ciena solutions, including Waveserver and the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, for Ethernet and Fibre Channel interconnect. This deployment will enhance the security of Helvetia’s network using Ciena’s WaveLogic Encryption, ensuring data is always protected as it travels between Helvetia’s Swiss data centers.

Helvetia Switzerland, which has more than 1.3 million customers, is increasing data center footprint within Switzerland and improve existing links between key business hubs. Ciena will assist Helvetia to significantly increase the scalability, reliability and capacity of its network links between the Swiss Data Center locations.

Helvetia will be able to transport data at 200 Gb/s across distances up to 130km without requiring costly Raman amplification or intermediate amplifier sites.

Ciena said this deployment includes 200G wire-speed encryption for data transmission security, along with Ciena’s software-based MyCryptoTool, a dedicated management user portal that provides control of all security parameters associated with protecting data traveling across the network.

“By bolstering our DCI networks with Ciena, Helvetia ensures we can securely deliver the applications and services needed for our employees to be successful at their jobs and our customers to have access to critical information – whenever they need it,” said Andreas Hagin, lead engineer, IT Infrastructure, Helvetia.