Astound Business Solutions has launched 400G Wavelength, a commercial service that leverages Ciena's WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) 800G and WaveLogic 5 Nano (WL5n) 400G coherent optics to deliver the massive capacity required by large carriers, enterprises, and public sector organizations. Astound's nationwide fiber-optic network covers more than 41,000 route miles and provides connectivity for over 75,000 business customers, as well as to more than 100 data centers across the U.S. Narrowing the digital divide in education: Another key application for 400G Wavelength is in support of educational systems. Committed to addressing the digital challenges faced in schools, Astound is a participant in Universal Service Administrative Company's E-Rate program and assists its education customers in navigating the rules and regulations for securing funding for digital learning initiatives. Additional Ciena offerings supporting Astound Business Solutions: Astound is deploying Ciena's Waveserver 5 interconnect platform, powered by WL5e 800G performance-optimized coherent optics or WL5n 400G coherent pluggables, to efficiently deliver 400G connectivity across all network links.

Additionally, the telco is leveraging Ciena's flexible 6500 ROADM photonic layer for resiliency and scalability as well as its Navigator Network Control Suite (Navigator NCS) for multi-layer visibility and simplified network management. Crucially, Astound is building out its network quickly and easily with Navigator's PlannerPlus and Emulation Cloud, which provide online network planning and design tools and an open environment for integration testing with operational support systems.