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Constl has completed a 1.6 Tbps channel transmission on its live national long-distance network across the Mumbai-Pune corridor using Ciena technology, which Ciena said makes it the first operator in India to achieve a 1.6 Tbps channel on an NLD network.
The transmission took place on a live production network rather than in a test or laboratory setting, building on the 1 Tbps transmission the companies announced on a Mumbai-Chennai long-haul route in 2025. That earlier test covered 1,450km without regeneration. The latest work focused on increasing per-channel capacity on an active route between two major network hubs.
Constl, a carrier-neutral connectivity provider owned by Space World Group, said the result is part of its effort to expand optical capacity across a fibre network it describes as spanning more than 13 cities and 100 data centres in India.
Capacity increase
The move from 1 Tbps to 1.6 Tbps represents a 60% increase in demonstrated channel capacity. According to Constl, the additional headroom is intended to support rising traffic from hyperscalers, cloud platforms, data centres and AI-related workloads that require more data to move between computing, storage and network systems.
The transmission used Ciena's WaveLogic 6 Extreme platform, which supports up to 1.6 Tbps coherent optical capacity. Ciena said it is designed to extend 800G connectivity across long-distance links while improving spectral efficiency and reducing power use and cost per bit.
The result comes as network operators in India face rising demand for bandwidth between major digital infrastructure sites. Growth in data centres, cloud services and AI computing has increased pressure on backbone and metro fibre routes, particularly those linking large commercial centres such as Mumbai and Pune.
Network strategy
Constl said it is using the technology to add multi-terabit capacity across both national long-distance and metro routes. Its network strategy has focused on increasing capacity while maintaining the economics and scalability needed for bandwidth-heavy services.
Ankit Goel, Chairman and Founder of Space World Group and Founder of Constl, linked the milestone to service support and network efficiency. "Achieving 1.6 Tbps on a live production network across Mumbai-Pune corridor marks another important step in Constl's network evolution, enabling us to support 800GE services and growing AI bandwidth demands with greater efficiency and a lower cost per bit," he said.
Goel said the development also reflects the company's broader fibre footprint. "With our growing pan-India fibre network, these advances in optical capacity enable us to scale our network and support the increasingly demanding requirements of hyperscalers, data centres and AI-driven applications," he said.
The latest transmission points to a broader shift in the Indian telecoms and connectivity market, as operators seek higher per-wavelength throughput to delay the need for additional fibre builds and make better use of existing network assets. Increasing the amount of traffic each optical channel can carry is one way to meet short-term demand in corridors where utilisation is rising quickly.
India demand
Ciena said the result also reflects a wider need for stronger digital infrastructure as AI investment gathers pace. The company supplies optical networking technology to operators seeking to upgrade backbone capacity without rebuilding entire networks.
Prashant Ramesh Malkani, Vice President and General Manager, India, Ciena, said demand conditions in India are changing rapidly. "Robust digital infrastructure is critical to advancing India's AI ambitions," he said.
He added that Constl's footprint gives it room to target the next wave of infrastructure demand. "With its pan-India network powered by Ciena's best-in-class optical technologies, Constl is well positioned to support this next phase of growth and meet the evolving needs of hyperscalers and AI infrastructure," Malkani said.