Omantel launches Middle East’s first 400GbE DCI service with Ciena

Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel), the Sultanate of Oman’s integrated telecommunications services provider, has announced the launch of a 400GbE DCI service based on Ciena’s Data Center Interconnect solution. The service is intended to meet Omantel’s wholesale, cloud, and content provider customers’ rapidly increasing connectivity demands while also providing a superior customer experience through optimized performance.

Omantel’s 400GbE DCI service is managed by the Manage, Control, and Plan (MCP) domain controller and runs on Ciena’s 6500 Packet-Optical Platform powered by WaveLogic 5 Extreme coherent optics. To accommodate increasing network traffic, the Ciena solution enables Omantel to deploy 100G and, for the first time, 400GbE DCI connectivity over wavelengths up to 800Gb/s.

“Our vision is for Oman to be the leading gateway to the region and beyond. We are bringing this mission to life, and a recent example is our new 400GbE data center interconnect service that we developed with Ciena. At Omantel, considering the numerous benefits on technical, commercial and social levels, we acted upon a clear strategy for data centers by partnering with Equinix, the world’s digital infrastructure company, to launch MC1, the premier carrier-neutral data center in MENA. We are now taking the next step by introducing an innovative new DCI service, the first of its kind in the region,” said Sohail Qadir, Vice President of Wholesale at Omantel. 

He added, “Crucially, we were able to launch the service sustainably—without deploying additional platforms—doubling wavelength transmission capacity from 400G to 800G and improving overall fiber capacity leveraging our existing footprint. What this means for our customers is faster delivery of on-demand cloud applications and content with the highest quality.” 

Virginie Hollebecque, Vice President and Leader of EMEA, Ciena, said: “With a flexible, scalable network foundation from Ciena, Omantel is able to get ahead of the growing demands on today’s networks and provide its customers with unrivaled connectivity by way of its DCI service.”

Omantel and Ciena continue to collaborate on various levels to introduce advanced products based on industry-leading technologies. The collaboration has resulted in innovative products that reflect both companies’ leadership roles in the wholesale domain.