The Japan-US Cable Network is upgrading its 23,000km trans-Pacific submarine network, adding another five terabits per second of capacity.

The upgrade will be done using Ciena’s WaveLogic coherent 100Gbps technology which enables 40G to 100G upgrades without having to replace existing submarine networks, instead using terminal equipment.

The Ciena 6500 Packet Optical processors installed by Ciena will replace existing 10G optical equipment at the network’s landing stations.

Ciena said it is a non-obtrusive way of carrying out upgrades fast.

The trans-Pacific submarine network will be upgraded by early 2013.

Once complete, it will be the first direct coast-t-coast 100G, traversing communications between North America to Northern Asia. It has two landing stations in California, one in Hawaii and three in Japan.

The Japan-US Cable is made up of more than 35 members, including Verizon  AT&T, CenturyLink, KDDI, NTT, Cable & Wireless Worldwide, and Softbank Telecom.