What Drives the Altibox Carrier 1.6 Tb/s Subsea Breakthrough

Altibox Carrier has set a new industry benchmark by demonstrating the world’s first 1.6 Tb/s single-carrier wavelength transmission over an in-service submarine cable.

Achieving the milestone was by using Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) coherent optics on the NO-UK system spanning between Norway and the UK. The live 1.6 Tb/s channel operated error-free on Altibox Carrier’s production network, confirming terabit-speed wavelengths are now viable for real-world subsea deployments. The technology showcases spectral efficiency exceeding 9 bits per second per hertz (b/s/Hz), illustrating its high-capacity potential.

Enhancing network capacity and efficiency

Leveraging Ciena’s WL6e technology, Altibox Carrier significantly advanced the capacity and spectral efficiency compared to earlier generations while maintaining rigorous performance standards on a live submarine span.

The gains highlight Altibox Carrier’s readiness to meet surging demand driven by AI workloads, expanding cloud services, video streaming, and content distribution.

Incorporating WL6e into its network roadmap supports Altibox Carrier’s goals to enhance scalability and intelligence in its subsea and terrestrial assets, enabling efficient growth aligned with market needs.

Strategic connectivity across the Nordics and Europe

Altibox Carrier operates key subsea assets, including the NO-UK cable linking Norway and the UK and the Skagen Fiber West cable connecting Norway and Denmark.

The systems integrate with an extensive terrestrial fibre network to deliver high-speed, dependable international data services across the Nordics and wider European region.

Co-owned by energy group Lyse and investment firm HitecVision, Altibox Carrier plays a crucial role in positioning Norway as a strategic digital hub on the continent.

Svein Arild Ims, CEO of Altibox Carrier, explained: “The global data centre market, especially in Norway, is undergoing historic expansion. This positions us to deliver higher-capacity, resilient pathways across Europe and to key international hubs.”

Thomas Soerensen, Vice President, Global Submarine Solutions at Ciena, added: “Altibox Carrier and Ciena have once again joined forces to reinforce Norway’s position as a leading data centre hub.

"This industry-first milestone and planned deployment of WaveLogic 6 will allow Altibox Carrier to efficiently scale its network and address surging bandwidth demands driven by AI, cloud and data centre expansion.”

Building on existing network upgrades

The breakthrough builds upon Altibox Carrier’s previous network enhancements, including an 800G upgrade utilising Ciena’s Waveserver 5 platform powered by WaveLogic 5 Extreme and the 6500 flexible grid open line system.

The upgrades expanded connectivity from Norway to digital hubs in Amsterdam, Brussels, London, and Hamburg.

Together, Altibox Carrier and Ciena continue to push innovation in subsea transmission technology, enabling operators to meet exponentially increasing bandwidth demands with scalable, energy-efficient infrastructures.

Implications for telecommunications networks

For telcos, reaching 1.6 Tb/s wavelengths on existing subsea cables marks a critical step towards future-proofing backbone networks.

The ability to transmit higher volumes of data with better spectral efficiency means operators can cost-effectively expand capacity without deploying new cables, accelerating support for burgeoning digital ecosystems, including AI, big data, and cloud services.

As network operators face rising demand for high-capacity, resilient routes to international hubs, successes like Altibox Carrier’s with Ciena’s technology demonstrate how next-generation coherent optics deliver tangible, scalable solutions for modern telecom infrastructures.