Astound Business Solutions has launched 400G Wavelength, a commercial service focused on large carriers, educational institutions, enterprises and public sector organizations.
The offering uses Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) 800G and WaveLogic 5 Nano (WL5n) 400G coherent optics.
Astound Business Solutions, a part of Astound Broadband, is an existing Ciena customer. It is deploying the vendor’s Waveserver 5 interconnect platform, the 6500 ROADM photonic layer and the Navigator Network Control Suite (Navigator NCS).
Astound includes networks and operations of four previous companies — RCN, Grande, Wave, enTouch, and Digital West.
Demand is driving expansion. “One of the main drivers of 400G wavelength service adoption is the need for greater connectivity speeds between multiple locations and meeting the demand of these higher-speed requirements in sites like data centers,” Patrick Knorr, Astound Business Solutions’ Chief Commercial Officer, said in a press release.
“With 400G Wavelength, powered by Ciena’s best-in-class optical technology, we provide dedicated low-latency, point-to-point bandwidth to common carrier points-of-presence and hyperscaler locations.”
The Astound offering provides connectivity to over 100 data centers within its network footprint, the company said.
Astound Business Solutions has made a series of moves during the past couple of years. Most recently, American Tower Corp. subsidiary CoreSite said last November that it and Astound would deploy CoreSite’s hybrid IT infrastructure in data center campuses in markets including Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.
In September, Astound Business Services launched Custom Wi-Fi, which it described as a professionally designed, implemented, and supported wireless network service. The platform is optimized for commercial and multi-tenant buildings, stadiums, outdoor parks and public venues, college and business campuses, retail and convention centers, hotels and resorts and mass transit stations.
Astound Business Solutions’ network consists of more than 41,000 route miles nationwide and serves more than 75,000 business customers and more than 100 data centers in the United States.
