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With the announcement, GPC said the work strengthens its high-capacity core by deploying Ciena’s coherent routing technology.
Edited by Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Great Plains Communications (GPC) said Wednesday it has upgraded its carrier backbone and transport networks in Illinois and Indiana through a collaboration with networking equipment maker Ciena.
The company said the work strengthens its high-capacity core by deploying Ciena’s coherent routing technology, which combines IP and packet switching with the optical layer to increase bandwidth, automation and network visibility.
The release also said the upgrade delivers city-to-city routes, a redundant ring architecture and capacity that scales across 1G, 10G and 100G services. GPC identified key markets touched by the project as Springfield, Champaign, Chicago, South Bend, Terre Haute and Indianapolis, and said the enhancements are intended to serve residential, enterprise, fiber-to-the-tower (FTTT), hyperscaler and wholesale customers.
GPC Chief Technology Officer Tony Thakur framed the work as part of an ongoing network evolution strategy to keep pace with growing demand for next-generation services. Meanwhile, Ciena’s Kevin Sheehan, the company’s Americas CTO and vice president of sales engineering, said the deployment will enable faster speeds, greater reliability and more flexibility for customers.
Additionally, the announcement emphasizes scalability and automation as central benefits of coherent routing, which the companies say will optimize bandwidth and improve resilience across the region’s transport network.
No timeline or financial terms for the upgrade were disclosed in the release.
AI tools from Noah Wire Services were used to help generate this report.
