Rascom Turns Up Data Capacity by Four Times Using Nortel Optical Solution

Increasing Network Capability Cost Effectively with Next-Generation 40G Technology
ST. PETERSBURG/MOSCOW – Rascom unlocks the multi-terabit capacity of their long haul optical network with Nortel’s* [NYSE/TSX: NT] 40G Adaptive Optical Engine, allowing them to offer services at higher speeds and improved performance. This will be one of the largest data pipelines in Eastern Europe, delivering 40G connectivity among sites in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm.


With a simple installation of two 40G transponders per node, Rascom is able to meet increasing consumer demand for bandwidth-hungry applications such as Internet television, high-definition programming and maintain high service levels generated by rapidly growing corporate network traffic.

“We selected Nortel’s 40G solution because it was timely, simple and cost-effective to do so today. Our investment in this 40G network will enable Rascom to meet the growing bandwidth demand of our customers,” says Vitaly Ivanovich Kireev, general director of Rascom. “We were the first company in Russia to build SDH and DWDM fiber-optic networks and we are still a leading innovator in both the Russian and European markets.”

“Some experts predict that the Internet may be swamped with traffic in a few years if operators fail to upgrade their infrastructures in advance,” says Sorin Lupu, Eastern European markets leader, Nortel. “The Nortel solution delivers competitive advantage for Rascom and other innovative operators of transport networks by modernising existing optical networks quickly and cost-effectively, optimising management processes and quadrupling throughput.”

With Nortel 40G Adaptive Optical Engine, Rascom has increased available bandwidth four-fold without modifying their network architecture, laying or renting new fiber. As a result, the company is avoiding many of the costs typically associated with fibre-optic network modernization.

Transponder cards incorporating the Nortel 40G Adaptive Optical Engine are deployed in the Optical Multiservice Edge (OME) 6500 and operate over a Nortel Common Photonic Layer (CPL) line system. Key advantages of the solution include:

* The ability to support data transfer rates of 40G over 10G networks

* Unique and industry-first digital signal processing technology which eliminates the need for signal compensation and lowers related capital and operating costs at 10G, 40G and 100G in the future

* The ability to transfer both 10G and 40G optical signals over distances of 2000 km without in line dispersion compensation or regeneration

Nortel’s Optical Network Manager is being used by Rascom to conduct network wide administration, monitoring and planning from a single management centre at St. Petersburg. This enables rapid troubleshooting, fault resolution and traffic management with no need for technical personnel to visit individual network nodes.
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*Nortel, the Nortel logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks.