Comcast, Nortel Test 100-Gig Link

PHILADELPHIA -- Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSK, CMCSA), the nations leading provider of entertainment, information and communications, is testing a 100 Gigabit/sec optical solution from Nortel* (NYSE/TSX: NT). Comcast** is conducting this test at the 71st meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) conference which it is hosting in Philadelphia.

Comcast’s network trial will be first time real traffic is run over a 100G wavelength on its existing network that is also carrying live 10G and 40G links. The trial will run in parallel over the same optical infrastructure that supports a combination of high definition or HD video, Internet and voice traffic on Comcast’s 40G national backbone network. Nortel’s 100G solution, based on the Nortel 100G Adaptive Optical Engine, is designed to operate with comparable performance to today’s networks, enabling operators to dramatically increase capacity.

“Testing an interoperable multi-vendor 100G solution will help provide us with important information about how new solutions will support a next generation of high-bandwidth services for the digital generation of consumers,” said John Schanz, EVP National Engineering and Technical Operations for Comcast. “As we continue to expand our cross-platform video, voice and data services, we need these types of innovative technologies from vendors like Nortel to support the rapid growth of new applications and services that run over our network.”

Comcast Corp.