Flag Global deploys Ciena's Waveserver optical platform on the Echo subsea cable, enabling 400GbE and 800GbE services for cloud and data center connectivity.

Subsea cable firm Flag (Fibre-optic Links Around the Globe) has confirmed deployment of Ciena's WaveLogic 6 Extreme technology on the Echo subsea cable system, enabling new 400GbE and 800GbE services between Asia and North America.

Flag acquired capacity on Google's Echo cable in December, adding a new trans-Pacific route to its global network. The subsea cable, announced in 2021 and jointly owned by Google and Meta, spans more than 17,000 kilometers. EdgeConneX is building a cable landing station for the California endpoint in Eureka.

The WaveServer platform is equipped with WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) coherent optics delivering 1.6 Tb/s throughput, alongside an RLS line system serving the more than 16,000-kilometer (9,941-mile) dedicated fiber pair—one of a limited number of direct routes connecting Singapore and the United States.

"Our investment in Echo enables us to transport rapidly growing volumes of AI, cloud, and enterprise traffic across one of the world's most important digital corridors," said Brad Kneller, chief network officer at Flag. "Using Ciena's leading coherent optical technology, we can rapidly bring new 400GbE and 800GbE services to market while delivering the scale, resiliency, and performance our customers require as AI and cloud traffic continue to accelerate."

Amit Malik, Ciena's vice president for Asia Pacific, Japan, and India, added: "High-capacity subsea routes such as Echo are essential to supporting the surging digital traffic moving between Asia and North America. WL6e enables Flag to extract greater value from its Echo fiber pair by optimizing capacity, improving network density and efficiency, and accelerating the introduction of new services."

Beyond Echo, Flag operates capacity on the FA-1, HAWK, Falcon, MEDEX, FEA, IEX, and FNAL subsea cable systems.

The announcement on September 21 coincides with Ciena's confirmation that it has also provided WL6e technology for the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable system, which connects Western Europe, West Africa, and South Africa.