This milestone positions FirstLight well to continue to serve the ever-increasing bandwidth needs of its customers

FirstLight, a leading provider of fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud, Unified Communications and managed services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, announced today that it has deployed its first 400 Gbps connection on its fiber optic network. This capability was accomplished in part with support from LightRiver, the premier optical network integration solution provider for next generation, multi-vendor, Factory Built Networks® and netFLEX® Optical Domain Orchestration and Control Software solutions.

With high network capacity and ultra-low latency at the center of FirstLight’s fiber philosophy, this upgrade is a notable milestone for the company. FirstLight’s network is designed to support the ever-increasing need for bandwidth, optimizing today’s technologies and providing elite performance to businesses across its footprint. Not only does this enhancement enable FirstLight to keep pace with customer demand, it also further-positions its network to support 5G technologies.

“Launching a 400 Gbps connection on our network is a landmark achievement for the FirstLight team,” noted Brandon Peyton, FirstLight’s Chief Network Officer. “Businesses’ increased reliance upon collaboration and 5G has fed the growing need for bandwidth across industries. Given the projected growth of these technologies, I am confident this is just the beginning of deployments of this scale for FirstLight as the network can easily scale to 800 Gbps and beyond.”

“Ciena’s 6500 platform powered by WaveLogic coherent optics will make it possible for FirstLight to provide 400-800 Gbps connectivity over its existing backbone and metro networks, allowing for rapid rollout of high-capacity, low-latency services to quickly and reliably satisfy customers’ needs," said Scotty Benda, VP of Americas Sales Systems Engineering for Ciena.

Additionally, with Ciena’s Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) and Liquid Spectrum apps, FirstLight gains real-time visibility into performance and the ability to proactively optimize the network and protect it from potential faults.

“LightRiver continues to believe that bringing best-of-class technology from Ciena to top-quality operators like FirstLight yields tremendous business advantages,” added Dean Campbell, Chief Technology Officer of LightRiver. “FirstLight’s deployment of 400G services over advanced Ciena technologies marks another win for our collaboration, as well as for FirstLight’s customers.”

For more information on FirstLight, visit: https://www.firstlight.net/solutions/industry-tailored/government/

About FirstLight
FirstLight, headquartered in Albany, New York, provides fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast connecting more than 13,000 locations in service with more than 125,000 locations serviceable by our more than 25,000-route mile network. FirstLight offers a robust suite of advanced telecommunications products featuring a comprehensive portfolio of high bandwidth connectivity solutions including Ethernet, wavelength, and dark fiber services as well as dedicated Internet access solutions, data center, cloud and voice services. FirstLight’s clientele includes national cellular providers and wireline carriers and many leading enterprises, spanning high tech manufacturing and research, hospitals and healthcare, banking and financial, secondary education, colleges and universities, and local and state governments.

To learn more about FirstLight, visit www.firstlight.net, or follow the company on Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

About Ciena
Ciena (NYSE: CIEN) is a global leader in networking systems, services, and software. We build the most adaptive networks in the industry, enabling customers to anticipate and meet ever-increasing digital demands. For three-plus decades, Ciena has brought our humanity to our relentless pursuit of innovation. Prioritizing collaborative relationships with our customers, partners, and communities, we create flexible, open, and sustainable networks that better serve all users—today and into the future. For updates on Ciena, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, the Ciena Insights blog, or visit www.ciena.com.

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