EKINOPS joins the Open ROADM group

EKINOPS (Euronext Paris – FR0011466069 – EKI), a leading supplier of optical transport equipment and router solutions, today announces that it has joined the Open ROADM Multi-Source Agreement (MSA).

Key step towards open and interoperable networks

The purpose of the group is to help build and publish open standards for optical networks building blocks such as ROADMs (Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexers), transponders and in-line amplifiers. Traditionally, these building blocks are proprietary systems built by each vendor. As a result, they are not interoperable and cannot be controlled from a single platform that would allow optical connections end-to-end management in a multi-vendor environment.

The Open ROADM group consists of over 15 members, including major telecom vendors and tier 1 operators such as AT&T and Orange S.A. Its goals are the disaggregation and opening up of the traditionally proprietary optical systems and the SDN-enablement of these building blocks in an effort to create flexibility and software control of the optical layer.

EKINOPS has been selected to be part of the Open ROADM group by the current members committee including major global operator Orange.

“EKINOPS joining Open ROADM is a good sign for us. It confirms their willingness to participate to a leading open initiative which paves the way towards automation, laying the foundations of interoperability in the optical layer. The initiated development efforts give EKINOPS a robust asset to address the market.” said Christian Gacon, vice president, Wireline Networks and Infrastructure at Orange.

This follows the recent demonstration of the Ekinops360 platform’s compatibility with the OpenDaylight-based SDN controller. The proof of concept, led by Orange, successfully exhibited a northbound NETCONF/YANG interface on the Ekinops360 platform implementing the Open ROADM modelling of a legacy equipment. This proved end-to-end optical services spanning different suppliers’ equipment can be automatically provisioned, regardless of them being NETCONF/YANG native. A smooth migration towards further network programmability becomes feasible making pre-deployed equipment compliant with the latest Open ROADM standards.

  • EKINOPS is a leading provider of open and fully interoperable layer 1, 2 and 3 solutions to service providers around the world. Our programmable and highly scalable solutions enable the fast, flexible and cost-effective deployment of new services for both high-speed, high-capacity optical transport as well as virtualization-enabled managed enterprise services.Our product portfolio consists of two highly complementary product sets. One, marketed under the EKINOPS 360 brand name, provides a single, fully integrated platform for Metro, Regional, and Long-Haul applications. The other, marketed under the OneAccess brand name, provides a wide choice of physical and virtualized deployment options for layer 2 and layer 3 network functions.As service providers embrace SDN and NFV deployment models, Ekinops’ solutions enable them to deploy today in the knowledge that they can seamlessly migrate to an open virtualized delivery model at a time of their choosing.A global organization, with operations in 4 continents; EKINOPS (EKI) – a public company traded on the Euronext Paris exchange – is headquartered in Lannion, France, and EKINOPS Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary, is incorporated in the USA.