YouFibre streamlines 400G network upgrade with Smartoptics

YouFibre is a national Fibre-to-the-Hub (FTTH) broadband provider serving the UK market, delivering fast and affordable full-fibre broadband to UK homes and offices. Rapid increases in customer uptake in the northeast region of England has prompted YouFibre to upgrade its network capacity in that region from 100G to 400G. After comparing multiple solutions, Smartoptics passive muxes paired with DCP-F amplifiers and 400G optics were chosen to accomplish this task. The new network elements are plugged directly into YouFibre’s existing routers, making the upgrade process smoother.

“Smartoptics helped us realise that we could simply merge the optical and router layer by plugging optics directly into the routers we already had and making use of the available QSFP-DD ports. This was far more cost-efficient and easier to deploy than the traditional WDM equipment we were considering. We appreciated this strategic buying advice and Smartoptics’ on-site support for fast and smooth deployment. This solution is easily scalable, preparing us to meet further bandwidth surges in other parts of our network, which is crucial for supporting our continued rapid growth across the UK,” says Sam Defriez, Director of Networks, YouFibre.

The latest Smartoptics muxes, amplifiers, and transceivers are fully 400ZR-compliant allowing for flexible and easier deployments across the board.

“We are well known for openness and flexibility. This opens up more possibilities for leveraging the latest technology. UX is also a core part of our product design philosophy to ensure our products are easy to use, manage, and scale. We see YouFibre’s deployment as an excellent example of how plugging optics directly into routers is a flexible and cost-efficient option. IP-over-DWDM is becoming increasingly popular and we see great growth potential in this area,” says Magnus Grenfeldt, CEO Smartoptics.