By mid-2025, 400G ZR and ZR+ coherent pluggable modules have achieved standard status for data center interconnect deployments worldwide, fundamentally transforming the DCI equipment market.
Market data points:
• 400G ZR/ZR+ coherent pluggables accounted for over 60% of new DCI capacity deployments in H1 2025, displacing traditional transponder-based solutions.
• The QSFP-DD ZR+ form factor has become the preferred implementation, offering 400G coherent transmission with reach options from 10 km (ZR) to 120+ km (ZR+).
• Pricing for 400G ZR+ modules has declined by approximately 40% since 2023, making coherent DCI economically viable for a much broader range of operators.
• Open Line System (OLS) deployments, where coherent pluggables operate over vendor-neutral DWDM infrastructure, have become the preferred architecture for greenfield DCI builds.
Regional highlights:
• Middle East: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) carriers have aggressively adopted 400G ZR+ for inter-city DCI, leveraging the region's relatively flat terrain and new fiber deployments.
• Southeast Asia: Indonesia and the Philippines are deploying 400G ZR+ for island-to-island DCI, with submarine cable segments.
• Europe: Carrier-neutral DCI providers (Equinix, Interxion) offer 400G ZR+ as a standard service, simplifying multi-tenant connectivity.
SZVAN's Open DWDM DCI coherent module family, now in volume production, is positioned to capture this growing market with competitive pricing and full compatibility with major OLS vendor platforms.
