The project will see the Chinese companies build a reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) network in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River – the first ROADM WDM backbone network to be built in the country.
The middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is one of the fastest developing regions in China, driven by demand for cloud computing and big data services.
China Telecom’ network will cover 21 ROADM sites in Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Wei Leping, deputy director, science and technology committee, Ministry of Industry & Information Technology and director, science and technology committee for China Telecom, said: “The all-optical network is the long-term goal of China Telecom. However, the evolution of the all-optical network cannot be achieved in one day, and there is still a long way to go.
“When and only when 100% transport, switch, and access are realized in the optical domain, and ROADM and OXC are introduced to the switching layer can a network be called strictly all-optical.”
The project will aim to satisfy the low latency demands of data centre private lines and financial customers in the region, with the current phase offering more than 300 100G electrical lines and 100% network recovery capability.
In a statement, Huawei said: “In the all cloud era, to satisfy the requirements of larger bandwidth and lower latency, Huawei will help operators to build the future-facing CloudOptiX transport network and realize the simplified one-hop transmission network architecture, and closely work with operators, enterprise customers, and upstream and downstream industrial partners to advance the development of optical networks.
“The digital transformation brings important opportunities. Network construction is transforming from being technology-driven to being business value-driven, and technological development is gradually shifting back to being business focused. Huawei's all cloud network solution is centered on the realization of business value. By building agile, smart, highly efficient, and open all cloud networks, Huawei helps customers achieve business success.”
The announcement comes just a week after China Telecom Global unveiled plans to launch 100G capability through its terrestrial cable system to answer demands for big bandwidth connectivity between Asia and Europe.
