Colt And Ciena Rollout Powerful New Transatlantic And Terrestrial Terabit Network

Colt Technology Services (Colt) and Ciena have announced the successful rollout of a powerful new transatlantic and terrestrial terabit network to support two global content providers.

The expanded network will help the hyperscalers meet growing demand for capacity driven by the rise in AI content; gaming and video streaming services; and changes in enterprise IT while reducing power consumption and carbon emissions.

Using Ciena's advanced WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) transponder1, the rollout increases capacity by 20% on a single fibre compared to previous generation models and enables Colt to achieve a 50% reduction in space, power consumption, and carbon emissions compared to earlier generation transponders. It follows the successful completion of the world’s first 1.2 terabit per second (Tbps) wavelength transmission across the Atlantic Ocean announced by Colt and Ciena in November 2024.

AI workloads on transatlantic cables are set to jump from 8% of capacity in 2025 to 30% by 20352, placing extra strain on global routes and potentially causing more lag and slower speeds for users. Content providers consume 74% of total used international bandwidth, up from just 5% in 2005, estimate Telegeography in its Transport Networks Research Service3. This pressure on capacity is prompting visionary businesses like Colt and Ciena to explore new technologies which help hyperscalers and enterprises meet demand without increasing power consumption or carbon emissions.

Buddy Bayer, chief operating officer, Colt Technology Services said, “This technology is transformational to global content providers and their ability to manage future demand. Imagine being able to stream millions of HD movies simultaneously, where previously you could stream just one, or increasing cloud gaming capacity on your network by 140% – that's the impact of what Colt and Ciena are providing. To do this responsibly is critical, and we're constantly finding ways for our solutions to work harder and perform better while aligning with our, and our customers' sustainability goals.”

Colt has adopted Ciena's WL6e into its transatlantic route across the Grace Hopper subsea cable as well as into terrestrial connections from Dublin, Ireland to London, UK and through networks in parts of Asia. With WL6e, Colt can potentially generate 1.5 times the network capacity of the traditional C-band spectrum4.

Using WL6e, Colt’s transatlantic capacity per wave has surged from 450 Gbps to 1.2 Tbps, achieving a 140% enhancement over approximately 6,500 km: the equivalent of previous capacity (450 Gbps) supporting around 18,000 simultaneous cloud gaming sessions (at 25 Mbps each), to new capacity (1.2 Tbps) supporting around 44,000 simultaneous sessions.