CIEN, Telxius Hit a Pioneering 1.3 Tb/s Wavelength Across the Atlantic

Ciena Corporation CIEN recently partnered with Telxius, a leading international connectivity provider, to achieve the industry’s first 1.3 terabit-per-second (Tb/s) single-wavelength optical transmission across the 6,600-km Marea submarine cable, connecting Virginia Beach, USA, to Bilbao, Spain. The project aims to meet the increasing global demand for high-capacity, low-latency bandwidth driven by the ongoing growth in AI and cloud computing.

Ciena’s latest and most advanced coherent optics technology, WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e), played a key role in this achievement. Designed for high-capacity, long-haul networks, the WL6e uses cutting-edge 3nm silicon photonics to significantly boost transmission capabilities while reducing power consumption and footprint. Key capabilities of WL6e include a single-wavelength transmission capacity of up to 1.6 Tb/s and a reduction of up to 50% in space and power consumption per bit.

The system set a record with 7.0 bits/s/Hz spectral efficiency, showcasing the volume of data that can be transmitted across the Atlantic using the spectrum most efficiently. By leveraging WL6e, Telxius is now capable of providing higher bandwidth, lower latency and more cost-effective optical networking over transoceanic distances — an essential upgrade for AI, hyperscale content, video streaming and cloud-based enterprise services. It has further confirmed plans to deploy WL6e across selected submarine systems throughout 2025 and beyond, highlighting a broader modernization of its global architecture.

The successful 1.3 Tb/s single-wavelength transatlantic transmission over the Marea cable by Telxius and Ciena is reshaping the possibilities of optical networking. As demand for bandwidth continues to rise exponentially, these strategic and innovative initiatives are key to building the next-generation global digital infrastructure.

CIEN’s WLe6 Powers Growth With High-Efficiency Networking

Ciena remains a top choice for network operators growing their networks for fast data center and cloud connections, including new applications. To meet increasing demand, the company is leveraging its entire portfolio—optical systems, interconnects, routing, switching and software services. As a global leader in high-speed connectivity, WaveLogic technology remains central to its edge. 

The WLe6 1.6T WAN solution holds an estimated 18 to 24-month lead over competitors. The solution is currently gaining strong market traction, attracting customers looking for more capacity while saving space and power in their networks. It gained 24 new WaveLogic 6 Extreme customers in the fiscal second quarter, reaching a total of 49 customers just two quarters after its general release.

The company also added 10 new WaveLogic 5 Extreme customers, bringing the total count to 344 worldwide. Prominent service providers such as Lumen, Etisalat, Korea Telecom, Southern Cross and Vocus continue to harness this advanced technology. WaveLogic 5 Nano pluggables are gaining traction, now shipping to 178 cloud and service provider customers.

Nonetheless, Ciena is facing risks from new tariffs and trade tensions, which could raise material costs, disrupt supply chains and weaken global demand. These issues may hurt margins and slow global growth, prompting the need for strategy shifts. In the fiscal second quarter, shifting U.S. tariffs adversely impacted the bottom line, causing a mid-single-digit million-dollar loss despite quick responses. The company expects about $10 million in tariff-related costs each quarter in fiscal 2025.

CIEN’s Zacks Rank & Stock Price Performance

Ciena currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). Shares of the company have risen 65% in the past year compared with the Zacks Communication-Components industry's growth of 36.9%.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader technology space are Juniper Networks, Inc. JNPR, Arista Networks, Inc. ANET and Ubiquiti Inc. UI. JNPR presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while ANET and UI carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Juniper is leveraging the 400-gig cycle to capture hyperscale switching opportunities inside the data center. The company is set to capitalize on the increasing demand for data center virtualization, cloud computing and mobile traffic packet/optical convergence. Juniper also introduced new features within the AI-driven enterprise portfolio that enable customers to simplify the rollout of their campus wired and wireless networks while bringing greater insight to network operators. In the last reported quarter, it delivered an earnings surprise of 4.88%.

Arista delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 11.82% and has a long-term growth expectation of 14.81%. Arista currently serves five verticals, namely cloud titans (customers that deploy more than 1 million servers, cloud specialty providers, service providers, financial services and the rest of the enterprise. It supplies products to a prestigious set of customers, including Fortune 500 global companies in markets such as cloud titans, enterprises, financials and specialty cloud service providers.

Ubiquiti’s effective management of its strong global network of more than 100 distributors and master resellers improved its visibility for future demand and inventory management techniques. In the last reported quarter, Ubiquiti delivered an earnings surprise of 33.3%. Its highly flexible global business model remains well-suited to adapt to the changing market dynamics to overcome challenges while maximizing growth.

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