News summary:
- Open optical ecosystems give operators greater flexibility and vendor choice as they scale networks for the AI era
- Adtran’s pluggable coherent ZR+ transceivers, FSP 3000 OLS and Mosaic Network Controller key to open transport and hierarchical control in OIF demo
- Adtran also hosted the OIF test run in its system integration labs in Gdynia, Poland, helping to ensure the demo’s success at the show
Adtran today announced its participation in OIF’s live multi-vendor interoperability demo at ECOC 2026, taking place September 21 to 23 in Málaga, Spain. Bringing together 39 member companies, the showcase highlights interoperable optical transport, pluggable coherent transceivers and network control technologies in a multi-vendor environment. Adtran is contributing 100Gbit/s, 400Gbit/s and 800Gbit/s ZR+ pluggables, its FSP 3000 open line system (OLS) operating across C- and L-bands and Mosaic Network Controller software. Ahead of the event, Adtran also hosted the OIF test run in Gdynia, Poland, supporting interoperability testing across participating companies.
“AI-driven demand is putting huge pressure on networks to scale, but operators shouldn’t have to trade flexibility for capacity,” said Christoph Glingener, CTO of Adtran. “It’s no longer enough to show that individual technologies can interoperate. The focus now is on proving that optical transport, coherent pluggables and software control can work together as an operational ecosystem. The more we validate those interactions, the easier it becomes for operators to introduce innovation, reduce integration risk and keep their options open as requirements change.”
Open networking only moves forward when companies are prepared to do the work together
The OIF showcase features Adtran’s pluggable CMIS-managed coherent ZR+ transceivers delivering 100Gbit/s, 400Gbit/s and 800Gbit/s with 0dBm output power. Adtran’s FSP 3000 OLS provides open optical transport across both C- and L-bands, while Mosaic Network Controller acts as the OLS domain controller within the demo’s hierarchical control architecture, integrating with higher-layer multi-vendor orchestrators. By bringing coherent interfaces, OLS technology and software control together, the showcase highlights interoperability across multiple network layers. Ahead of ECOC, Adtran hosted the OIF test run in Gdynia, enabling participating companies to validate interoperability, test integrations and prepare for the live demo.
“Open networking only moves forward when companies are prepared to do the work together,” commented Ryan Schmidt, GM of optical transport at Adtran. “Joint validation, from early testing through to live multi-vendor demonstrations, gives operators the confidence to deploy open optical architectures in real-world networks. That collaboration is becoming increasingly vital as optical architectures grow more open and more distributed. Ultimately, operators need to know they can choose the right technology for each part of their network without giving up simplicity, performance or the freedom to evolve.”
