>>When Qwest buys product from Ciena, they stay with Nortel's network management system.<<
Just trying to learn here, but are you referring to the overall network management system or just on the optical side? I ask that because if it is the latter, I wonder how the products described below work with Nortel's product at Qwest....Or does Qwest just have a multiple vendor strategy for these types of products?
>>CIENA Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) today announced that Qwest Communications, the
broadband Internet communications company, has signed a comprehensive supply agreement
to purchase systems from the CIENA LightWorks? suite of optical networking solutions. The
multi-year agreement enables Qwest to purchase CIENA's MultiWave CoreStream? and
MultiWave Metro? intelligent optical transport systems as well as CIENA's MultiWave
CoreDirector? intelligent optical core switch.
Qwest has satisfactorily tested, ordered and deployed CIENA's CoreStream solutions for
long-haul optical transport in its core network and CIENA's Metro solutions for optical transport
as part of its Qwest Link metropolitan network buildout.
"We're turning to CIENA for a set of optical networking solutions that helps add strategic value to
our broadband network and services," said Augie Cruciotti, senior vice president of Qwest Link.
"As we build our local broadband access networks and the industry's first all-optical,
coast-to-coast network, real-world solutions from industry innovators like CIENA will enable us to
deliver the advanced optical services that give Qwest customers a competitive edge."
CIENA LightWorks
CIENA's LightWorks architecture is a comprehensive blueprint for building intelligent optical
networks. It extends integrated capabilities in optical transport, core switching and multi-service
access technologies through software-driven intelligence embedded throughout the optical
layer. CIENA's recently unveiled LightWorks Toolkit? leverages intellectual property in optics,
software and ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) to enable carriers like Qwest to
offer dynamic broadband services and handle real-time service provisioning and prioritization.
"The role of CIENA's LightWorks architecture is not only to supply network capacity, but more
importantly, to build intelligence into the network to turn additional bandwidth into new
revenue-producing services," said Gary Smith, CIENA's chief operating officer. "LightWorks
solutions offer Qwest important operational and economic advantages. With CIENA's full suite of
intelligent optical products as part of its solution, Qwest will be able to deliver and manage the
leading-edge broadband services that define its leadership in the marketplace."
<snip>
Core Switching Features
CIENA's MultiWave CoreDirector is the industry's first intelligent optical core switch.
CoreDirector's market-leading density, scalability, range of optical interfaces, and
software-definable switching granularity, eliminate the need for additional SONET/SDH add/drop
multiplexers, digital cross-connects, and optical cross-connects in next-generation network
architectures. Embedded, distributed software serves as the intelligent optical network core
enabling automated protection and restoration schemes and dynamic information exchange
between networked CoreDirectors. In real time, each CoreDirector is able to evaluate the state
of the network and select the best path for traffic to travel across the network to its destination.<<
ciena.com |
