South African enterprise connectivity provider Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) has completed a trial with Ciena, demonstrating 1.6 terabits per second (Tb/s) transmission over a single wavelength.

The trial utilized Ciena's WaveRouter platform and WaveLogic 6 Extreme tech deployed across a 40-kilometer route between Isando and Midrand, just outside of Johannesburg, on DFA's core network infrastructure. The same network path previously demonstrated 400 Gb/s capability in earlier trials.

According to Andreas Uys, chief technology officer at DFA parent company Maziv, the results validate the network's ability to support increased customer demand for high-capacity services.

The trial follows DFA's 800 million South African rand ($45 million) network upgrade program, which included deploying dry underground distribution cabinets in high-density areas.

The WaveRouter implementation, deployed through Ciena partner Willcom, enables DFA to offer integrated services at 400 Gb/s, 800 Gb/s, and 1.6 Tb/s speeds within a single routing platform. The solution combines optical and routing technologies in a unified architecture designed to support coherent routing capabilities.

Ciena's Navigator Network Control Suite, meanwhile, provided centralized management for the tests. It provides multi-layer network operations and WAN traffic scaling, allowing operators to gain a single point of control for their entire networks.

“With Ciena’s optical and routing technologies, DFA is better positioned to deliver high-scale 400 Gb/s aggregation today while preparing its network to scale up to 1.6 Tb/s and beyond,” said Virginie Hollebecque, Ciena’s VP for EMEA.

DFA operates as South Africa's primary dark fiber infrastructure provider, serving enterprise connectivity requirements across the country. Its Ciena tests are set to help inform its rollout strategy for next-generation connectivity services in selected regions before potential nationwide expansion.

Ciena’s DFA tests come amid a series of network overhaul projects for the vendor. It recently partnered with Zayo Europe to augment the operator’s new 3,500-kilometer fiber network in Germany, as well as an Arelion team up as part of an overhaul of its Scandinavian infrastructure.