---
title: "Tunable Coherent vs Fixed Wavelength: When Flexibility Is Worth the Premium"
type: comparison
target_audience: technical
score: 9/10
---

The decision between tunable and fixed-wavelength DWDM optics is rarely framed correctly in vendor conversations. The typical sales pitch for tunable emphasizes the "future-proof flexibility" without quantifying what that flexibility actually costs or under what specific network conditions it delivers a positive ROI. The inverse error is just as common: operators dismiss tunable as overpriced complexity and then discover that their fixed-wavelength spare management is costing them more than the tunable premium would have. Getting this decision right requires understanding not just the price differential but the operational and architectural conditions that make each choice rational.

Fixed-wavelength DWDM transceivers are manufactured with the laser operating at a specific ITU-T G.694.1 channel frequency. A module labeled "C33" operates at 193.1 THz, corresponding to 1550.92nm, and that is the only wavelength it will ever produce. The laser's operating temperature and bias current are factory-set to maintain that specific center frequency within ±2.5 GHz (the coherent DWDM alignment tolerance for 100GHz grid) or ±1.25 GHz for 50GHz grid operation. Fixed-wavelength QSFP28 DWDM modules from quality vendors like Lumentum, Acacia, and those available through Flexoptix cost approximately €800-1,500 per unit in single quantities, dropping to €500-900 in volume above 50 units. The lower cost versus tunable reflects simpler laser control electronics — no wavelength locking feedback loop, no channel table firmware, no tuning calibration during manufacturing.

Tunable DWDM modules achieve wavelength agility through a thermally-tuned distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) laser or an external-cavity laser design with a MEMS tunable filter. The full C-band tunable range is nominally 1528-1565nm (195.9 THz down to 191.7 THz), covering all 96 channels on 50GHz ITU spacing per G.694.1. In practice, most 100G QSFP28 tunable implementations cover channels 17 to 61 on 100GHz spacing (193.7 THz to 190.9 THz), which is sufficient for 40-50 usable DWDM channels — the practical maximum for metro CWDM multiplexers anyway. Full C-band tunable QSFP28 modules from Lumentum OCLARO LC25CW-20A series or the Flexoptix tunable QSFP28 cover the complete 96-channel grid and are priced at approximately €2,000-3,500 per unit. The premium over fixed-wavelength is roughly 2.5-4x per unit.

The inventory argument for tunable is the strongest one. A network operator maintaining 24 DWDM channels across 6 metro sites needs, in a fixed-wavelength world, 24 distinct SKUs plus spares for each — a sensible spare policy of 10-15% means carrying 3-4 spare units per channel, or 72-96 spare modules. Each spare module is tied to a specific wavelength and can only be used as a drop-in replacement for a failed module on that exact channel. The capital cost of spares inventory alone is 72 units x €1,000 average = €72,000, most of which sits on a shelf for the module's entire 7-10 year service life without generating any value. With a tunable module, one SKU covers all 24 channels. A spare inventory policy of 10% coverage requires only 3-4 units total: €3,500 x 4 = €14,000. The spare inventory savings alone — €58,000 in this scenario — exceed the total optics price premium for the tunable modules on a deployment of reasonable scale.

The operational argument for tunable is compelling in mesh and ring topologies where wavelength assignment may need to change without physical access. A carrier running a multi-ring metro topology with protected paths needs to pre-position spare capacity at each node. With fixed-wavelength modules, pre-positioning a spare at node C to cover a potential failure on node A requires that node C carry a spare on each wavelength currently active in the network — because you don't know at sparing time which wavelength the failure will affect. With tunable modules, a single spare module at node C can be remotely configured to any failed wavelength in minutes via NETCONF/YANG configuration, eliminating the need to physically dispatch a field technician to swap a wavelength-specific module. For a carrier with 40 nodes across a regional metro network, this represents a meaningfully different disaster recovery posture.

The startup latency of tunable modules deserves honest discussion because it is a real limitation that some vendors understate. When a tunable DWDM module powers up or when its target channel is changed via management interface, the laser must acquire lock to the new target frequency. This tuning and locking process typically takes 10-90 seconds depending on the module's thermal control loop design, the magnitude of the wavelength change (switching from channel 20 to channel 21 is faster than switching from channel 20 to channel 60), and the ambient temperature stability. A fixed-wavelength module, by contrast, is typically at stable operating output within 5-15 seconds of power-up since no frequency acquisition is required — the laser simply stabilizes at its preset operating point.

For automatic protection switching applications where a failed DWDM path needs to be restored in under 50ms (the typical SONET/SDH-legacy restoration target that some carrier SLAs still reference), tunable module re-wavelength provisioning is not a valid restoration mechanism. Protection switching on DWDM networks at this speed requires pre-provisioned protection paths using existing wavelengths, not real-time tuning. Tunable modules are a provisioning flexibility tool, not a sub-second restoration mechanism, and any proposal that describes them as such should be rejected.

The 50GHz vs 100GHz grid question intersects with the tunable vs fixed decision. High-density 50GHz grid operation requires tighter laser frequency stability (±1.25 GHz vs ±2.5 GHz for 100GHz), narrower optical passband filters in the OADM or multiplexer, and correspondingly stricter chromatic dispersion tolerance since narrower optical bandwidth means more sensitivity to nonlinear effects. Tunable modules certified for 50GHz operation carry a higher manufacturing cost due to tighter laser characterization during QA; the premium for 50GHz-capable tunable versus 100GHz-only tunable is typically €200-400. Most current metro deployments start on 100GHz grid with path to 50GHz grid densification as traffic grows — a tunable module with 50GHz capability is the rational choice if densification within 3-5 years is plausible.

What carriers actually deploy in production provides useful calibration. Tier-1 European carriers running large-scale metro DWDM typically use tunable coherent pluggables (primarily 100G and 200G CFP2-DCO or QSFP28 ZR+) for all interoffice connections where fiber cost makes wavelength sharing economically mandatory. For customer-facing access ports where each circuit is on a dedicated fiber pair anyway — DSL aggregation, business Ethernet handoffs — fixed-wavelength or even grey optics remain the cost-optimized choice since there's no wavelength-sharing advantage to exploit. The operator who deploys tunable everywhere including fiber-rich direct access links is paying a wavelength management premium without receiving the corresponding fiber lease savings benefit. The operator who deploys fixed-wavelength everywhere including dense metropolitan fiber corridors where 80+ circuits share infrastructure is paying thousands per month in avoidable fiber lease costs. The decision framework is simple: count the parallel circuits on each segment, calculate the fiber lease cost per pair, and let the numbers determine where the wavelength flexibility premium pays for itself.
