Great Plains Communications (GPC), which operates a privately-owned 16,500+ mile fiber network reaching 13 states, is deploying Ciena’s Coherent Routing solution and WaveLogic 5 Nano (WL5n) to:
- support 5G and xHaul services for fiber-to-the-tower (FTTT) customers up to 10Gb/s—10 times the previous capacity
- provide high-performance, scalable 400G Data Center Interconnect (DCI) services to large cloud and data center operators
- ensure the utmost resiliency of Layer 2 VPNs with Segment Routing for the protection of packet services
GPC’s network leverages Ciena’s Coherent Routing solution comprising the 5164 Router and 8110 Coherent Aggregation Router with WL5n 100G–400G coherent pluggables, as well as the 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, powered by WaveLogic coherent optics, for optical transport. The network is managed by Ciena’s Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) multi-layer domain controller.Installation, turn-up, and test services for the network were provided by Ciena Services.
“As a leading regional service provider in the Midwest, Great Plains Communications always has an eye to the future—especially when it comes to technology advancements and the growing traffic curve,” remarked Kevin Sheehan, CTO of the Americas, Ciena. “With Ciena’s innovative Coherent Routing solution, GPC can support voracious network demand and shifting traffic patterns, fulfilling the needs of its business and residential customers with new in-demand, high-bandwidth services for 5G, cloud connect, and more.”