NEW YORK, Nov. 05, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Global technology intelligence firm ABI Research has named Ciena, Nokia, and Cisco as the leaders in its Open Line Systems for Data Center Interconnect Scale-Across ranking, reflecting the growing importance of optical interconnect infrastructure as hyperscalers and neoclouds distribute AI workloads across campuses, cities, and regions. The ranking highlights how vendor differentiation is increasingly tied to a mix of optical innovation, implementation scale, and support for distributed AI infrastructure.
“Open line systems have become a core architecture for scale-across AI data centers because operators need more flexible, power-efficient, and software-driven optical interconnect,” said an ABI Research analyst. “The vendors that stand out are the ones combining strong optical innovation with the implementation scale needed to support distributed AI infrastructure.”
ABI Research identified Ciena as the overall leader, driven by its vertically integrated optical portfolio and innovations such as its Reconfigurable Line System and Hyper-Rail architecture. Nokia stands out for its compact modular platform, vertical integration, and multi-rail roadmap, while Cisco’s high ranking reflects its major coherent pluggable footprint, strong hyperscaler traction, and growing scale-across optical strategy. Among the mainstream vendors, Adtran stands at the head of the group, recognized for its strong position in open and disaggregated optical networking, in-house amplifier expertise, zero-touch provisioning, and orchestration capabilities.
The ranking underscores how the scale-across market is expanding as energy shortages and grid constraints push operators to link adjacent and regionally distributed data centers with massive volumes of optical connections. ABI Research also found that hardware disaggregation is now mainstream, shifting competitive differentiation toward amplification density, hut optimization, and AI-driven orchestration software, while incumbent heavyweights continue to lead due to their scale, integration depth, and supply chain reach.
These findings are from ABI Research’s Open Line Systems for Data Center Interconnect Scale-Across competitive ranking report, part of the company’s Data Centers research service, which includes research, data, and ABI Insights.
About ABI Research
ABI Research is a global technology intelligence firm uniquely positioned at the intersection of technology solution providers and end-market companies. We serve as the bridge that seamlessly connects these two segments by providing exclusive research and expert guidance to drive successful technology implementations and deliver strategies proven to attract and retain customers.
ABI Research是一家全球性的技术情报公司，拥有得天独厚的优势，充当终端市场公司和技术解决方案提供商之间的桥梁，通过提供独家研究和专业性指导，推动成功的技术实施和提供经证明可吸引和留住客户的战略，无缝连接这两大主体。
For more information about ABI Research’s services, contact us at +1.516.624.2500 in the Americas, +44.203.326.0140 in Europe, +65.6592.0290 in Asia-Pacific, or visit www.abiresearch.com.
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Jason Scheer
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