Telstra today announced the extension of its new global Software Defined Networking (SDN) platform into the optical layer, enabling high-bandwidth provisioning up to 100Gbps, and automated fault restoration across its 25 global Points of Presence (PoPs).
Jim Clarke, Telstra's director of marketing, product and pricing -- international, said the extension of SDN and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) capabilities into Layer 1 followed the announcement last month that Telstra had added nine Telstra PEN PoPs to Pacnet's existing footprint of 16 PoPs across Asia, creating a globally connected on-demand networking Platform.
"Extending our global PEN platform into the optical layer is the natural next step in our SDN strategy and by providing this infrastructure on demand, we're able to significantly shorten the provisioning cycle times and better meet our customers' growing high-bandwidth needs,” he said.
"This is an exciting milestone in Telstra's SDN journey and by leveraging our high quality infrastructure assets and Pacnet's leadership in early adoption of SDN technology, we will continue to innovate and deliver cost-efficient virtualized network resources to our customers.”
SDN deployment to grow 10 fold in 2 years
According to Gartner, by the end of 2016, more than 10,000 enterprises worldwide will have deployed SDN technology in their networks, compared to less than 1,000 as of September 2014.
Telstra plans to extend virtualization to its suite of Managed Services offerings to deliver greater choice and flexibility for customers, he added.
Launched in April 2013 by Pacnet, which was acquired by Telstra last month, the PEN Platform is built on Telstra's global network and the service is available globally in 25 PEN Points of Presence across eight countries -- including Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, the US and the UK. Telstra also provides additional connectivity options into public cloud services to bridge hybrid cloud deployments.