Windstream Wholesale announced that it has partnered with II-VI Incorporated to co-develop next-generation transceivers that will streamline deployment of 400 gigabit services while significantly reducing costs, power consumption and network complexity. Windstream Wholesale announced in February 2021 that it had deployed 400 gigabits per second single-wavelength transmission across its long-haul network using compact, low-power, industry-compliant pluggable modules. These modules represent the next major step in network evolution while driving high-capacity optical connections to the network edge to deliver ultra-fast speeds to more end-users than ever before.

Today's announcement bolsters Windstream Wholesale's position as a technology leader and pioneer leveraging a multi-layer open architecture that enables a fast and flexible solution along with interoperability through the fundamental design principles of disaggregation, promoting speed, flexibility and interoperability standards. The new technology will: Deliver the world's first high-performance 0 dBm, 400G QSFP-DD coherent pluggable module—making these transceivers compatible with existing and emerging modern ROADM based photonic layers supporting multi-service, multi-layer architectures; Significantly increase 400G transceiver density by drastically reducing the size and power demands of 400G pluggables relative to sled-based and even CFP2-based solutions; Reduce capex and opex by allowing for direct insertion of high-performance coherent optics into current 400G enabled routers, based on the smaller form factor; and Open up a direct technical path for the further evolution IP-over-DWDM with ROADM-based photonic layers, extending the application space beyond simple point-to-point DCI style networks. Windstream's Intelligent Converged Optical Network provides open and disaggregated networking infrastructure, enabling wholesale and enterprise technology customers to select unique custom routes, maintain operational insights with Windstream's Network Intelligence functions, and place their networks closer to the edge to better serve end-users.