GE and Optelian Join Forces to Deliver Reliable Optical Networking Solutions for Utilities

Utilities increasingly face pressure to provide reliable communications for critical services. There is a need to maintain low latency end-to-end propagation delays, a need to restore service in the event of a disruption within 10 milliseconds, as well as a continued need to operate within the harsh electrical and environmental conditions of a power substation.

In response to this increasing pressure, GE (NYSE: GE) and Optelian today announced a supply agreement to deliver reliable, high-performance optical networking solutions for utilities. By combining GE’s SONET, SDH and PDH multiplexers with Optelian Intuitive Packet Optical Networking™ and Optelian FLEX Architecture™, customers can build communication networks that allow them to introduce additional information technology applications while protecting critical operational traffic and ensuring superior service quality. The announcement was made at the UTC Telecom 2014 conference, taking place May 6-9 in Phoenix.

Through pairing Optelian solutions with GE’s JungleMUX and TN1U/Ue multiplexers, utilities facing capacity constraints on existing fiber segments or requiring communications over extended fiber cable lengths now have a cost-effective solution. Alleviating these constraints without expensive capital infrastructure builds is pivotal to a utility’s success.

“The alignment of Optelian solutions with GE’s multiplexers, switches and routers is a critical step forward to help our customers build next-generation networks,” said Tom Mueller, senior product manager, optical networks, GE’s Digital Energy business. “Until now, critical utility applications have remained isolated on our customers’ private networks to better protect the integrity and quality of these services. With Optelian, we now can improve our capabilities to deliver bandwidth intensive applications like video surveillance and storage area networks over the existing fiber network without impacting critical operational traffic.”

Like GE’s JungleMUX and TN1U/Ue multiplexers, the Optelian FLEX Architecture is modular and allows utilities to selectively scale their network and deploy advanced optical technologies. The Optelian solution can offer muxponding, reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers and G.709 optical transport network at strategic locations to achieve a utilities’ critical communications goals. This approach facilitates field-upgradable “scale” to quickly augment capacity, extend reach and provide essential optical retiming, reshaping and amplification for additional cost savings. It also enables service separation specific to each utility’s changing needs.

When combined with GE’s SONET/SDH multiplexers and utility-hardened multilink switches, network engineers can maintain transparent service pipes from 64 kilobits per second to 10 gigabytes per second and beyond from their network edges, without the service-delivery compromises (such as additional latency, inefficient bandwidth usage and network complexity) typically found when protocol conversion is employed. Managed via standards-based simple network management protocol, the combination of the Optelian FLEX Architecture and GE multiplexers improves utility communications with superior traffic segmentation and guaranteed quality of service.

“Through the Optelian FLEX Architecture, utilities can grow their networks and maintain critical separation of operational and information technologies, supporting their converged business needs without compromising on network performance. It’s a strong win-win,” said David Weymouth, president and CEO, Optelian.

To learn more about GE’s multiplexer solutions, visit http://www.gedigitalenergy.com/communications/Multiplexers.asp. To learn more about Optelian’s Intuitive Packet Optical Networking solutions, visit www.optelian.com or email info@optelian.com.

GE’s Digital Energy business is a global leader in protection and control, communications, power sensing and power quality solutions. Its products and services increase the reliability of electrical power networks and critical equipment for utility, industrial and large commercial customers. From protecting and optimizing assets such as generators, transmission lines and motors, to ensuring secure wireless data transmission, GE’s Digital Energy business delivers industry-leading technologies to solve the unique challenges of each customer. For more information, visit http://www.gedigitalenergy.com.

About Optelian

Optelian provides Intuitive Packet Optical Networking to deliver next generation services. Our solutions are powered by the modular Optelian FLEX Architecture to deliver services from access to long-haul, passive to packet and 100M to 100G. Intuitive Packet Optical Networking enables service driven networking, allowing operators to rapidly deliver services while optimizing network capacity. We empower intuitive service management through a simplified infrastructure that virtualizes network and technology complexity.

With agile design capabilities and North American manufacturing, Optelian can meet custom requirements to suit any network. Combined with professional services to ensure your network is optimally planned and deployed, along with world-class customer support, Optelian delivers the technology and services that enable intuitive next-generation networks. For more information, visit www.optelian.com and follow us on Twitter @Optelian.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.

Follow GE's Digital Energy business on Twitter @GEModernGrid.