IPoDWDM in 2026#

Mark Tinka, TransmissionCo

• Why: IPoDWDM failed once (2000s: proprietary, fixed, power-hungry line cards) and is now succeeding — this talk explains exactly what changed and who is deploying it, which matters for anyone planning DC/WAN interconnect on dark fiber or short DWDM spans.
• What: A state-of-the-market walkthrough of routed optical networking built on MSA coherent pluggables. Per CignalAI data cited, coherent pluggables outsold proprietary embedded optics 2:1 in 2025, and most 400G-ZR shipments have gone into hyperscaler IPoDWDM deployments; hyperscalers are converging on OSFP for 800G-ZR for thermal reasons. Includes a live reference network: a 130 km span in Cape Town built from a Juniper ACX7300 router with 2x 400G-ZR+ QSFP-DD plugs plus a third-party open line system — no transponder tier.
• How: Coherent pluggables (100G-ZR QSFP28, 400G/800G-ZR QSFP-DD/OSFP) put DWDM line-side optics directly in standard router/switch ports, on dark fiber or integrated with a line system for reach; line- and client-side mix on the same card; disaggregation removes the optic from the host platform. Pluggable transponders are positioned as the bridge for operators who still want Layer-1 aggregation/demarcation/protection.
• Where applicable: Broadly applicable technique, not org-specific — driven by hyperscaler economics but now accessible to any operator with dark fiber or short spans. Presented by a vendor-side MD, but the deck is grounded in third-party market data and a real multi-vendor deployment rather than a product pitch.