CtrlS Datacenters is working with networking technology company Ciena to build five high-capacity metropolitan optical networks connecting nine data centres in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, New Delhi and Noida. The networks are designed to deliver aggregate capacity of up to 100 terabits per second and form part of a broader managed optical-fibre deployment for an unnamed hyperscale customer.
The project is intended to increase the speed and resilience of traffic moving between data-centre locations as artificial-intelligence and cloud workloads generate greater volumes of east-west network traffic. Distributed AI training, inference, data replication and storage services can require sustained connectivity between facilities rather than traffic flowing through a single central data centre. The announced deployment addresses that requirement at the metropolitan-network layer.
CtrlS will deploy Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Extreme-powered Waveserver platform and the company’s 6500 Reconfigurable Line System. Ciena’s services organisation will handle end-to-end project management, while its Navigator Network Control Suite will be used to automate network operations and accelerate the provisioning of new services.
WaveLogic coherent-optical technology is designed to move high-capacity traffic over fibre while improving spectral efficiency. The reconfigurable line system enables operators to route and manage optical wavelengths across a network, while the control software provides centralised visibility and automation. Together, the components will support the managed interconnection service rather than simply adding isolated links between individual facilities.
CtrlS founder and chief executive Sridhar Pinnapureddy said the company was seeing increased demand from enterprises and hyperscalers for reliable data-centre interconnection. Ciena India Vice-President and General Manager Prashant Ramesh Malkani said the upgrade was intended to increase network performance as cloud and AI adoption expands.
Founded in 2007, CtrlS currently operates 19 data centres across nine Indian markets with more than 370 megawatts of capacity. The company also reports approximately 4.4 gigawatts of projects at different stages of execution. The optical-network programme connects part of this expanding physical footprint and gives CtrlS an infrastructure layer through which it can provide managed connectivity alongside data-centre capacity.
The companies have not disclosed the contract value, deployment schedule or identity of the hyperscaler associated with the larger managed optical-fibre project. They have also not specified whether all five metropolitan networks will become operational simultaneously. The announced geography nevertheless covers major northern, eastern and southern data-centre markets, including the separate but closely connected Delhi and Noida clusters.
The initiative adds network capacity between facilities rather than new computing capacity inside them. This distinction is material as operators expand AI-ready campuses: accelerators and servers depend on high-bandwidth links to exchange datasets, replicate services and connect customers across availability zones.
