Xtera Upgrades Americas 1 North – Columbus 2B Submarine Cable System
Upgrade to Unprecedented 1.3 Tbits/Fiber Pair Capacity
McKinney, Texas – December 12, 2023 – Xtera Inc., an innovative provider of subsea fiber optic solutions, announces successful completion of the eighth upgrade of Americas 1 North – Columbus 2B, a first generation optically amplified undersea cable system that was placed into service in 1994. Originally operational with a single 2.5Gb/s wavelength on each fiber pair, Xtera has performed a series of upgrades on the cable system since first contracted in 2009. Initially 20G technology was introduced, followed by subsequent upgrades with 100G products. Today, leveraging its advanced third generation 100G+ technology, Xtera has achieved an impressive 1.3 Tbits per fiber pair - surpassing the system's original design capacity by over five hundred times. This capability stems partly from the range of modulation schemes offered by the Nu-Wave Optima platform, and also from Xtera’s experience of upgrading existing cable systems.
Keith Henderson, Chief Executive Officer of Xtera emphasized the collaborative effort between Xtera and AT&T over the past fourteen years, remarking, "This upgrade underscores the value of Xtera's ongoing investment in technology, enabling our engineering team to deliver cost-effective and industry-leading solutions. This is particularly evident in the challenging landscape of upgrading legacy submarine cable systems, where achieving substantial increases in capacity poses complex technical challenges."
About Xtera®
Xtera is an innovative provider of subsea and telecom technology. The Company supplies both repeatered and unrepeatered systems, using its high-performance optical amplifiers to deliver traffic directly inland to cities and offering flexibility in working with industry partners to provide the optimum solution. Xtera has considerable expertise in the Caribbean and Americas region. For more information, please visit Xtera at xtera.com or contact info@xtera.com.
