With AI workloads driving unprecedented traffic increases across data centers and WAN networks, the demand for high-speed, modular optical transport solutions is rapidly changing the way optical networks are architected and built. The industry has very much reached Shannon’s limit, which limits per-wavelength capacity in optical communications.
So, to satisfy growing traffic demand, hyperscalers, CSPs, and enterprises need to architect their networks differently: deploy more wavelengths across more fiber strands and across more locations, all the while improving power, cost, and space efficiency. These counteracting goals in network scaling have brought along several key innovations in optical networks, the key one being the widespread use of coherent pluggables.
Historically, coherent optical transport used bulky optical transceiver modules built into optical line cards or service modules. This approach worked, as long as per-wavelength capacity could scale. As vendors started to reach limits of per-wavelength capacity, the tide started to turn – the focus of the market now is on coherent pluggable interfaces, which aim to bring high (but not maximum) capacity per wavelength, with greatly improved power, cost, and space efficiency. Modern coherent pluggables use client optics form factors (mostly QSFP-DD, OSFP, and – for 100G ZR – QSFP28) and power envelopes, thus enabling applications like IP over DWDM or Cisco’s Routed Optical Networking, where coherent interfaces plug directly into routers, omitting dedicated optical transport network elements.
Cisco – through its 2021 acquisition of Acacia – made a strong bet on the coherent pluggables market booming, and the bet has clearly worked. At PONC, Cisco quoted industry sources that rank it as the number one vendor in coherent port shipments and revenue market share globally. Cisco continues to expand its coherent pluggable portfolio – in addition to several flavors of well-established 400G modules, Cisco continues to scale its offering up (with 800G ZR/ZR+ modules) and down (with 100G ZR QSFP28). This, in turn, enables coherent pluggables to address an expanded set of use cases – the 100G ZR pluggables can be used in access networks carrying traffic from fixed broadband, radio access, or enterprise connectivity services, while regional and long-haul networks can be served with 400G ULH (ultra long-haul) pluggables.
While the mainstream use case for coherent pluggables – at least when it comes to number of ports shipped – will continue to be connecting data centers in metro areas with truly massive, parallel, optical infrastructures, coherent pluggable innovation enabling associated emerging use cases will allow Cisco to expand its addressable market and further increase its relevance in serving CSPs and enterprises. At PONC 2026, Cisco also presented highly integrated open optical line systems – Open Transport 3000 – that follow the same demand pattern: developed to satisfy hyperscaler needs for truly massive, multi-rail optical transport, bringing new levels of power and space efficiency, which then makes it very compelling for CSPs as well.
Another key feature of Cisco’s optical strategy presented at PONC 2026 was Routed Optical Networking (RON), an IPoDWDM architecture that integrates optical transport and IP WAN using coherent optical pluggables in routers. When it started, RON was mostly limited to metro-range point-to-point connections by the reach performance of mainstream coherent pluggables (like 400 ZR) and the immaturity of available network management systems. Now, however, due to significant development advancements in both directions, RON has truly become a mainstream solution applicable to most optical networking use cases, from access to long-haul, with Cisco registering 450+ customer deployments of RON.
Cisco’s family of small form factor coherent pluggables now supports speeds from 100G to 800G, across fiber spans from a few hundred to several thousand kilometers. Likewise, Cisco is constantly improving the functionality of its network management software and has settled on a hierarchical controller architecture that lets users integrate IP and optical network controllers [Cisco Crosswork Network Controller (CNC) and Cisco Optical Network Controller (CONC)] under Cisco Crosswork Hierarchical Controller. This approach is also very permissive of multi-vendor deployments and allows other vendors’ network elements and controller software to be used in this software environment.
At PONC 2026, several of Cisco’s clients across varied CSPs (including Deutsche Telekom, Liberty Global, Retelit, Vodafone, and one government institution) reflected upon their experiences with RON, strongly supporting Cisco’s message of operational efficiencies and network simplification leading to significant cost benefits for network operators. The customer testimonials also indicated where the future development direction should be – higher level of automation through AI implementation in the software, better multi-vendor support, and further expansion of IPoDWDM use cases.
In line with its focus on RON, Cisco extended its message of simplifying and unifying IP and optical networks with its Cisco 8000 Series powered by its Silicon One ASICs. Cisco’s messaging around Silicon One-based routers and switches emphasizes operational simplification through reducing the number of layers and protocols in networks, which dovetails well with the RON focus on reducing network complexity by combining IP and optical networking. Additionally, Cisco’s 8000 Series includes CSP-grade routers and switches covering a wide variety of use cases, including WAN use cases from access to the core, and web-scale switching within the data center.
At the conference, Cisco was also keen to emphasize its client optics portfolio, and the innovation it is driving in this dynamic space, driven by the exploding networking needs of AI factories and data centers in general. Cisco’s client optics pluggable portfolio continues to evolve, with its 1.6T OSFP pluggable representing the pinnacle of the vendor’s client optics development. However, Cisco speakers asserted that the vendor’s competitive differentiation in client optics doesn’t solely rely on faster pluggables delivered earlier than the competition. AI workloads that drive massive bandwidth demands for data center scale-out networking are extremely sensitive to network bottlenecks and link failures.
Cisco therefore aims to differentiate its products in this area by increasing the reliability of its modules throughout its in-house silicon photonics and DSP design and manufacturing, improving efficiency through an integrated design process of the whole module, robust stress testing, and software innovations to maximize AI infrastructure uptime.
Taken together, the program of PONC 2026 presented combined strengths of Cisco’s optical transport, client and line optics, IP networking, and software development. Cisco’s innovation in this space has been visibly reinvigorated by the immense investment flowing into the AI infrastructure.
However, PONC 2026 successfully showed that the innovation stemming from AI requirements doesn’t only benefit hyperscalers and neoclouds bearing the brunt of the investment into the AI infrastructure. This innovation is driving efficiencies and technological advancements for all types of clients, including CSPs, enterprises, and the public sector, who can use this wave of innovation to transform their networks and achieve new levels of performance, security, and automation, and use it to expand their business while reducing the TCO of their infrastructure.
If you’d like to access the PONC Milan replay or get invited to PONC US, scheduled for September 30 – October 1 in Dallas, TX, contact Cisco at ponc_emea@external.cisco.com
