Windstream Wholesale Enhances Tallahassee-Houston Network with Advanced Optical Overhaul
Windstream Wholesale has unveiled a significant upgrade to its optical infrastructure, announcing a strategic rebuild and enhancement of its network route between Tallahassee, Florida, and Houston, Texas. Partnering with Ciena (NYSE: CIEN), the initiative will incorporate Ciena’s advanced line systems to dramatically increase network capacity, reduce latency, and support the growing demands of digital transformation and AI-driven data growth.
This infrastructure improvement centers on the deployment of next-generation optical technology, enabling 400G services today and paving the way for 800G capabilities in the future. The upgraded Gulf Coast route will offer customers high-speed, low-latency connectivity between Texas and the Southeastern U.S., with improved network diversity, reliability, and scalability. Service orders for the new route are now open.
“As demand for high-capacity bandwidth continues to surge—especially in AI-focused markets like Texas—this upgrade solidifies our role as a leading provider of next-generation connectivity,” said Joe Scattareggia, President of Windstream Wholesale. “Our partnership with Ciena allows us to enhance our existing FLX and RLS network infrastructure, which already includes key routes like the Beach Route and the Florida-to-Atlanta corridor.”
Ciena’s Reconfigurable Line System (RLS) is a key component of the upgrade, bringing Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) monitoring capabilities to the network. This technology enhances diagnostics, accelerates fault detection, and improves overall network reliability—aligning with Windstream’s mission to deliver robust, high-performance networking solutions.
Kevin Sheehan, CTO for the Americas at Ciena, highlighted the importance of the collaboration: “This partnership reflects our mutual dedication to innovation in optical networking. With RLS and other cutting-edge technologies, Windstream Wholesale gains a more scalable and cost-effective infrastructure capable of supporting the region’s explosive data and cloud growth.”
A major benefit of the upgrade is the reduction in required regeneration points (regens), which improves both performance and cost-efficiency. Fewer regens translate to lower operational costs and more competitive pricing for enterprise and wholesale customers.
Additionally, by leveraging Ciena’s modular RLS architecture, Windstream Wholesale can remotely provision express sites by linking multiple ROADM (Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer) segments. This approach minimizes the need for on-site work, speeds up service delivery, and simplifies deployment—critical advantages for customers expanding into AI, cloud services, and high-performance computing.
For more information, visit Windstream Wholesale.
