Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, identifying network elements of a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) domain of an optical waveguide communication system that includes a group of optical-add-drop multiplexor (OADM) devices. Operations are observed for the WDM domain configured to deliver communication services configured for simultaneously transporting independent signals across a network of single optical waveguides. A demand for optical waveguide communication services is determined and the WDM network is configured according to the optical fiber communication link requirement and according to the observations. The configured WDM network includes at least one OADM device of the group of OADM devices configured to provide a WDM cross-frequency network path of the configured WDM network. Other embodiments are disclosed.