AquaComms’ ‘AEConnect Cable System’ provides diverse, low-latency route to support growing web-scale application demands

To support surging demand for trans-Atlantic connectivity, Aqua Comms Limited (AquaComms) selected Ciena® (NYSE:CIEN) to facilitate 100G connectivity on its new AEConnect Cable System from New York to London, and beyond to greater Europe. Leveraging Ciena’s GeoMesh solution, AquaComms will provide low-latency, reliable and scalable connectivity to support the needs of the web-scale providers that underpin today’s international cloud connectivity. The route will also enable trans-Atlantic connectivity for global carriers and multi-national enterprises.  By providing private dedicated connections, AEConnect will lower network costs and enable higher, more consistent network performance for end users.

Key Facts:

  • AEConnect is a new subsea      cable system that is a diverse trans-Atlantic route and spans more than 5,400      km connecting New York with the West Coast of Ireland, including deep      water branching units for future landing station connectivity. In addition      to the trans-Atlantic segment, the system supports metro networks, data      center interconnectivity (DCI) and access to all of the major data centers      in Dublin, as well as from Wales to London.
  • AquaComms is deploying Ciena’s      6500 Packet-Optical Platform, powered by WaveLogic 3 Extreme coherent optics,      to provide 100G      services between point of presences (PoP). This high-capacity network will help meet      the demands from increasing data traffic crossing the Atlantic Ocean,      which between 2014 and 2021 has a forecasted 41 percent CAGR according to TeleGeography.
  • The new low-latency and high-availability network will provide      critical connectivity for global data centers, cloud-based networks,      financial services and content providers, such as international DCI for Equinix. The innovative design of the AEConnect      system will allow AquaComms and its customers to take advantage of      advanced modulation schemes such as 8QAM and 16QAM that provide greater      spectral efficiency and reach.
  • With Ciena’s programmable platforms, AEConnect will be able to utilize emerging technologies such as Software Defined Networking (SDN), to support bandwidth-intensive applications, ensuring that international organizations can take advantage of resilient and secure connectivity to leverage economic opportunities across the Atlantic Ocean.

Executive Comments:

  • “By deploying this next-generation trans-Atlantic subsea cable system, we are able to provide premium connectivity for both our web-scale and service provider customers, who continue to see the demand for bandwidth growing at exponential rates. Ciena’s GeoMesh solution helps ensure that we have the scalable, programmable and high-capacity connectivity in place to support the varied needs of our customers.”-          Greg Varisco, Chief Operating Officer, Aqua Comms Limited
  • “For sub-sea providers like AquaComms, having a reliable and high-capacity infrastructure in place is critical to the support growing demands of global data centers, cloud-based networks, financial services and content providers. Ciena's agile and programmable GeoMesh solutions incorporate the latest coherent optical transmission technologies and network architectures to create seamless global connectivity to address the challenges of today’s web-scale world.”-          Ed McCormack, Vice President and General Manager of Submarine Systems, Ciena

Supporting Resources:

About Aqua Comms Limited
Aqua Comms Limited (AquaComms) is the owner and operator of the transatlantic cable AEConnect and the Irish Sea cable CeltixConnect, and was established to build, acquire or merge with subsea fiber optic cable networks to provide capacity networking solutions to the global media, content providers and IT companies. To learn more about AquaComms and its new transatlantic subsea cable system, AEConnect, visit www.AquaComms.com.

About CienaCiena (NYSE: CIEN) is the network specialist. We collaborate with customers worldwide to unlock the strategic potential of their networks and fundamentally change the way they perform and compete. Ciena leverages its deep expertise in packet and optical networking and distributed software automation to deliver solutions in alignment with its OPn architecture for next-generation networks. We enable a high-scale, programmable infrastructure that can be controlled and adapted by network-level applications, and provide open interfaces to coordinate computing, storage and network resources in a unified, virtualized environment. For updates on Ciena news, follow us on Twitter @Ciena or on LinkedIn. Investors are encouraged to review the Investors section of our website at www.ciena.com/investors, where we routinely post press releases, SEC filings, recent news, financial results, and other announcements. From time to time we exclusively post material information to this website along with other disclosure channels that we use.

Note to Ciena Investors
Forward-looking statements. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof; and Ciena's actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied, due to risks and uncertainties associated with its business, which include the risk factors disclosed in its Report on Form 10-Q, which Ciena filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 9, 2015. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Ciena's expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "will," and "would" or similar words. Ciena assumes no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.