Ukrainian Telco major ramps up network

PARIS: Ekinops, a supplier of next-generation optical equipment, announced that Datagroup, an Ukrainian telecommunications operator, has chosen Ekinops as its 100G supplier and has deployed Ekinops' coherent 100G systems across its long-haul Ukrainian network.

Datagroup was seeking a solution that offered a cost-effective upgrade path to higher capacity and faster network speeds across the thousands of kilometers of fiber that make up its trans-Ukrainian network. Datagroup, as per the press announcement, offers a range of integrated communications services to individuals and businesses, as well as to education and research networks.

It adds that 100G transport offers Datagroup a massive increase in bandwidth to serve the needs of its diverse customer base. Before deploying, Datagroup performed extensive testing of the Ekinops system to assess its performance and compatibility with its installed base of 10G equipment.

The successful deployment involved transmission of 100G signals over an existing DWDM network for a distance of 820 kilometers between Kiev and Kharkev. The existing DWDM network is transporting many 10G waves and the 100G channels were added without affecting the existing traffic. This was achieved without making any changes to the existing network. The initial deployment is on the route Lviv-Kiev-Kharkiv, connecting western and eastern parts of the country.

Datagroup tested and selected the flagship Ekinops 360 platform and its 100G modules, which can be configured as either transponders for transmission at 100G or as muxponders for aggregation of 10G services into 100G. The modules are highly compact, at only 1RU.

"The Ekinops equipment worked exactly as we hoped," said Aleksandr Danchenko, CEO of Datagroup.