ADVA Optical Networking Announces Commercial Support of Facebook-Designed Voyager White Box Solution

ADVA Optical Networking today announced commercial support for the Facebook-designed Voyager open optical packet transport system that has been developed by the Telecom Infra Project (TIP). Support for the new white box product was announced jointly with TIP members on stage at their inaugural summit. Voyager is the first solution to be released from TIP’s Open Optical Packet Transport project group – a group that was only initiated in May of this year. Voyager is a completely open 1RU DWDM device that features 12 x 100Gbit/s QSFP 28 clients and 4 x 200Gbit/s 16QAM on the line side. It has been developed specifically to increase the speed of network innovation and simplify deployment processes. The TIP Summit is being held at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park from November 1 until 2.

“What has been developed here is a true landmark in our industry. It’s a game changer that will open up networks to a whole new range of customers. This is something undeniable,” said Christoph Glingener, CTO, COO, ADVA Optical Networking. “The whole anchor of this project is openness. It’s been built into Voyager from day one. It’s also something that’s at the very foundation of who we are as a company. Openness, collaboration, choice – this is ADVA Optical Networking. We believe in open ecosystems. We don’t lock customers into proprietary technologies. We believe in meeting their needs in the best way possible. That’s why TIP’s Open Optical Packet Transport project group has been such a success and why we’re such a strong supporter of it. With our commercial support, we’ll be able to drive Voyager rapidly forward.”

ADVA Optical Networking was the first transport vendor to join TIP’s Open Optical Packet Transport project group and has worked continuously with group members to define how the Voyager solution can be commercialized. In addition to selling the transport solution, ADVA Optical Networking will also offer its network management software, network operations center and maintenance services to provide customers with a complete network solution. This comprehensive package will enable a broad range of operators and enterprises to rapidly respond to their customers’ demands and explore new business opportunities without the need for protracted and complex deployment cycles. What’s more, the open nature of Voyager means there are no vendor lock-ins.

“It’s exciting to see what TIP has achieved so quickly. We’ve made progress in advancing the Open Optical Packet Transport project group, where ADVA Optical Networking’s team has played a key role,” commented Hans-Juergen Schmidtke, director, engineering, Facebook. “Voyager represents an important step in the development of an open white box DWDM system. ADVA Optical Networking’s commitment to provide a commercial channel with essential services and software support will help the Voyager initiative succeed. With Voyager, we’ve shown that open and collaborative approaches can help increase the speed of network innovation and implementation.”