Telstra has completed the second of the upgrades of its transmission network by deploying high capacity next generation optical transport technology between five Australian cities – Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
The telco says the optical upgrade upgrade is a key milestone of the three year project to expand its long haul, metro and regional optical networks, and the foundation for Telstra’s fixed and mobile networks.
Completion of the network follows the Tasmanian upgrade completion announced in August, and Telstra says the upgrade will provide increased capacity, enhanced resiliency and extensive scalability to cope with the ever growing demand on its networks.
According to Telstra, the upgrade means the network is capable of supporting up to 8.8Tbps between the five major Australian centres, as well as increased capabilities around resilience and software defined networking.
{loadposition peter}“Our transmission network upgrade is a foundational investment in building the networks for the future to meet the growing demands of our consumer and enterprise customers. It enables increased capacity and flexibility, improved resiliency, and readiness for new technologies such as 5G, Cloud computing and Internet of Things,” Mike Wright, Telstra’s Group Managing Director Networks says.
“With the explosion in smart devices, video streaming and cloud computing, we are forecasting that Telstra will have five times the current traffic on our network five years from now. This transmission upgrade project is about making sure we have the capacity and resiliency to meet these demands.”
According to Wright, the upgrade of Telstra’s inter-capital optical network is set to deliver super speeds, with the system capacity scalable with future developments from 75Tbps to over 100Tbps between capital cities as demand grows.
“This upgrade is a key building block for our networks for the Future program. These milestones are crucial to ensuring we have the technological capability to meet the future demands of our customers and Australians more broadly.”