ANN ARBOR – Merit Network has selected ADVA Optical Networking

as Vendor of Choice for Merit’s Broadband Stimulus Project, REACH-3MC.

ADVA Optical Networking was selected from a number of qualified vendors

that responded to a Request for Proposal Merit issued in late March.

While there were several strong proposals, the Merit team’s thorough review

of all RFPs showed that ADVA Optical Networking could best deliver a viable

technology solution in support of the REACH-3MC project.

“The ADVA Optical Networking proposal meets our immediate needs for a 40

channel system and has the ability to offer native 10 Gbps waves today,” said

Merit’s Director of Network Engineering and Operations, Pete Miller.

“Additionally, with this system in place, it will be possible to upgrade

to 40 Gbps and 100 Gbps with no optical layer changes.

“From a wavelength perspective, the system is scalable up to 80 wavelengths

per fiber pair with any combination of 2.5Gbps, 10Gbps, 40Gbps, or 100Gbps

wavelengths,” he said. “Merit will be able to offer an extremely robust

and highly available network infrastructure, which will allow us to dynamically

manage and provision end to end services.”

Brian Savory, director of business development, ADVA Optical Networking, said:

“The FSP 3000 offers the scalability that Merit Network needs as it grows its

network to meet customer demands. This solution provides a seamless overlay to

existing networks with no system downtime during deployment.” Savory went

on to say, “ADVA Optical Networking has always supported the Research and Education Community and we are happy to continue working with Merit Network in this next phase of their network expansion.”

“The ADVA Optical Networking proposal includes 8 degree ROADM technology,” said

Robert Duncan, Merit’s Director of Infrastructure Architecture and Strategy. “This type of technology is critical for Merit to integrate our existing network infrastructure and to ensure we have the appropriate flexibility to deploy the REACH-3MC network infrastructure.

“Merit believes that ADVA Optical Networking’s broad experience in designing and deploying DWDM networks will prove to be a valuable asset,” said Bob Stovall, vice president of Network Engineering and Operations for Merit Network.

The Merit evaluation team made their selection based on the following criteria:

functionality, hardware components, and cost. The platform’s ability to support

the technology and hardware of Merit’s existing 1600 mile backbone was a strong

consideration as well.

For more information on REACH-3MC and Merit’s efforts to expand affordable, high-speed

broadband access in Michigan, Merit.Edu/MeritforMichigan

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