Viettel enhances its optical backbone with Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) and completes a successful WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) trial, delivering record network capacity to accelerate 5G and Digital Transformation across Vietnam.
Viettel is working with Ciena to increase the service capacity of its optical network, establishing itself as a favourable network partner to hyperscalers keen to expand services into Vietnam. Transmitted over Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform powered by Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) 800G coherent optics, the network upgrade accelerates Viettel’s 5G expansion plans.
Viettel envisions traffic demand growing locally and internationally, driven by cloud and artificial intelligence-led applications and services, and selected Ciena primarily for its expertise in Layer 0 control plane technology.
Leveraging the programmability of WL5e, the Viettel backbone can now support high-capacity 600 Gb/s wavelengths that span distances of more than 1,000 km. Deployed by Elcom, the upgrade enables Viettel to increase its current backbone capacity over six times from 4 Tb/s to 25.2 Tb/s, significantly increasing connectivity speed, space and power efficiencies. Viettel is also benefitting from automated operations using Ciena’s Navigator Network Control Suite to help manage the network throughout its entire operational lifecycle.
Viettel recently achieved a significant milestone, attaining 1.6 Tb/s through a single optical channel across one of its network links using Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e). The trial saw the doubling of Viettel’s existing fibre wavelength capacity from 800 Gb/s to 1.6 Tb/s and positions WL6e as a viable upgrade option for Viettel to address increasing bandwidth demands. With WL6e, Viettel will be able to expand its offerings to include ultra-high-speed 800 GbE connectivity services.
“Optical backbones are critical to providing the connectivity needed to continue Vietnam’s reputation as a fast-growing digital economy in Southeast Asia,” said Wendy Le, Country Lead, Vietnam, Ciena. “Together with Viettel, Ciena is helping build the connectivity foundation essential to help Vietnam maintain its pace of growth in the AI era, all while optimising carbon footprint, power and capacity.”
