Japan: Mitsubishi Electric Signs Contract to Upgrade Transpacific Cable Network

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced that it has signed a contract to upgrade a transpacific submarine cable network by incorporating 40 Gbps dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) and increasing transmission design capacity up to fivefold to 5.2 Tbps.

The upgrade to the Asia America Gateway (AAG) Cable Network, which will involve installing submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE) in eight countries, is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2012.

The AAG Cable Network, a 10 Gbps DWDM system set up in 2009, is owned by a consortium of nineteen major telecommunications carriers and comprises over 20,000 kilometers of fiber-optic cable linking 10 landing stations located in seven Southeast Asian countries and the United States.

To satisfy the rapid increase in demand for internet traffic, there has been urgent need to raise transmission capacity and speed. A field trial conducted on the AAG Cable Network has proved that Mitsubishi Electric’s new high-speed fiber-optic technology, called coherent technology , enables 40 Gbps DWDM transmissions beyond 6,600 kilometers, which was one of the key factors underpinning the upgrade contract.

“We are proud to be selected as the supplier for the AAG Cable Network capacity upgrade,” said Masahiro Tsukamoto, general manager of Mitsubishi Electric’s Telecommunication Systems Department. “Having received an order for similar work on the transatlantic TAT-14 Cable Network, Mitsubishi Electric will become the first supplier of 40 Gbps upgrades to both transpacific and transatlantic networks. We now look forward to building on these wins to assist other network operators with high-quality upgrades.”

Mitsubishi Electric has been a leader in submarine cable systems ever since supplying the world’s first 5 Gbps optically amplified repeaters for a transpacific cable in 1994. In 1999, the company supplied the world’s first 10 Gbps transmission technology for transoceanic cables, comprising 10 Gbps optically amplified repeaters and SLTE. Since 2004, the company has performed upgrades for various undersea cable systems while continuing to expand its capabilities in this field.

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Source: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, November 10, 2011