Verizon Upgrades Core Network to 400 Gbps Per Port

Verizon said today that it is upgrading its core fiber network to support speeds of 400 Gbps per port optical technology. The company said the upgrade will support growing bandwidth demand, particularly on its 5G Ultra Wideband network.

That network saw traffic increase 249% between January 2021 and June 2022, Verizon said.

The new optical core network will use technology from Juniper and can be upgraded to 800 Gbps and 1 Tbps per port in the future.

“Our fiber network is the largely invisible foundation that is a key driving force behind providing the scalability and reliability our customers need and expect,” said Verizon Chief Technology Officer Kyle Malady in a press release about the Verizon 400 Gbps upgrade. “This new packet core will provide the reliability and capacity we need today, but more importantly will be able to scale to meet the forecasted future demands that will result from the incredible capabilities of our robust 5G network, the platform for 21st century innovation.”

The press release noted several other advantages of the network upgrade:

• The equipment is half the size of the existing equipment, reducing space requirements and driving down power usage and operating costs per gigabyte (GB).
• The equipment also offers advanced automation, enabling automated interfaces with other network systems to make faster decisions and changes. According to Verizon, advanced automation also improves reporting telemetry to “advance analytics and real-time adjustments to address congestion or other performance improvements” and incorporates protocols such as segment routing to make more intelligent routing decisions. The goal is to make the network more reliable, programmable and efficient.
• Because the new equipment is so dense and has such large capacity, Verizon will be able to re-architect its network in a way that spreads the equipment out to additional facilities across geographies, thereby providing an additional level of redundancy with the ability to reroute traffic onto a greater number of fiber routes when needed.

Other companies that have deployed 400 Gbps equipment in their core networks, at least on some routes, include AT&T and Zayo.