Or, to be precise, an amazing kilometrestone!
In the last weeks the GN4-3N project has lit over 12,000Km of dark fibre for the new GÉANT backbone network. The network now reaches 10 countries, with many more to come over the next few months. This achievement is all the more notable as it has been done during the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the ability of the teams across Europe.
“I’m delighted that we have been able to pass the 12,000km mark of newly lit dark fibre for the new GÉANT backbone network being delivered by GN4-3N. This has been accomplished by the hard work of many people across the 10 countries reached so far by the new network and has shown the great teamwork that has developed between the GÉANT Project and Operations Teams, our equipment provider, Infinera, and the numerous connectivity and colocation providers that we have worked with since the first new route was deployed in September 2020. All of this has been delivered against the backdrop of significant COVID related restrictions, lockdowns and working from home requirements.
As the newly delivered routes are being integrated and accepted into production service, we are now moving forward with the first migration activities that has allowed us to issue the first cease notices for the more expensive shorter term connectivity contracts and to start the decommissioning of the old optical network equipment.
We now look forward to continuing the build out of the remaining parts of the expanded GÉANT backbone network and continuing with the transition from the old network on to the new network being delivered by GN4-3N.” Paul Shelswell, Programme Manager – Fibre and Network Transition, GÉANT
To find out more about the new GÉANT network and how it will transform research and education networking across Europe, visit network.geant.org
