Xtera Communications, Inc. has announced it completed the upgrading and acceptance testing of the Americas I North Submarine Cable System between Vero Beach, Florida and St. Thomas, USVI and the Columbus 2b Submarine Cable system between West Palm Beach, Florida and St. Thomas, USVI.

 

The original contract was awarded to Xtera Communications (News - Alert), Inc. in 2009 by The Americas I North and Columbus 2b consortiums.

 

The two submarine cable systems are the first optically amplified systems and were originally placed in service with a single 2.5 Gbit/s channel. This upgrade project has significantly increased the capacity between the United States and the Caribbean.

 

Xtera's NXT Submarine Line Terminal Equipment or “SLTE” with advanced 20 Gbit/s Differential Phase Shift Keying “DPSK” technology was selected for the Americas I North and Columbus 2b upgrade.

 

According to Giovanni Garcia, chairperson, Americas I North/Columbus 2b Procurement Group, the growth of innovative IP-based services requires the group to place significantly more bandwidth into service between the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the United States.

 

With Xtera's technical solution, it’s possible to increase capacity more than 50 times without replacing expensive submerged plant.

 

The NXT system, which is highly optimized for operation in the submarine environment, features advanced monitoring capabilities that support rapid system response to faults, low power consumption, high-reliability sealed clam-shell circuit packs, and NEBS Zone 4 earthquake compliance.

 

According to Jon Hopper, president and CEO of Xtera Communications, selection by the Americas I North and Columbus 2b consortiums reinforces Xtera’s position as a tier one provider.

 

Since the upgraded cables are among the very first optically amplified submarine systems, it proves that even older cable systems that pose difficult technical challenges can be given a new base.