Southern Cross, Ciena claim first 1Tb/s transpacific cable link

January 16, 2025 11:22 AM

AI-generated concept of superfast data transmission speeds: Blue and purple light streaks on a white background, with a speed effect

Southern Cross Cable claims to have connected the world’s first transpacific 1 terabits per second (Tb/s) single-carrier wavelength over the world’s longest single optical submarine cable segment.

The company achieved 1Tb/s data transfer speeds across a 13,500km live production network with Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) solution.

The channel speed ran error-free on a network between Sydney and Los Angeles, leveraging Ciena’s WL6es to achieve end-to-end connectivity across a higher capacity wavelength, using far less space and power.

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Beyond the record-breaking trial, Ciena’s WL6e system, which uses coherent digital signal processing (DSP) technologies to improve energy efficiency and performance, will be used to enhance Southern Cross’ networks across the Pacific, enabling it to support data-intensive workloads related to applications like AI, video and cloud.

Laurie Miller, president and CEO of Southern Cross, said: “Working with Ciena and adapting our network with their latest coherent optical solution illustrates our pledge to the ongoing enhancement of critical digital infrastructure for our region.

“In today’s increasingly hyper-connected world, delivering an incredible customer experience depends on the ability of Southern Cross to create innovative services and provide the capacity needed to meet constantly changing demands.

Southern Cross plans to begin volume deployment of Ciena’s WL6es across its network in the first calendar quarter of 2025, including its Southern Cross NEXT cable, to support low-latency connectivity between Sydney/Auckland and Los Angeles.

Dino DiPerna, SVP for global research and development at Ciena, said: “As AI and cloud applications continue to increase capacity requirements for data centres, cloud and service providers are working with private cable operators like Southern Cross to expand their footprint and offer reliable connectivity.

“With Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 high-performance optics, these service providers can support the move towards 800G services to connect data centres and build AI-ready networks with greater scale.”

Southern Cross’ transpacific Tb/s record follows Ciena’s tests with Arelion last August that saw the pair complete the world's first 1.6 terabits-per-second (Tb/s) wavelength data transmission in a live network field trial.