ZTE Corp. (H: 0763.HK / A: 000063.SZ) says it has provided high-speed data transmission systems to help Alibaba Group handle a record-breaking surge in online shopping traffic on China Singles’ Day on November 11, which is the busiest day of the year for Internet retailers in China.
The holiday, held every November 11 (or, more germane to the subject, 11/11), is a (mostly) light-hearted celebration of bachelor life for those who are a "1" themselves. Bachelors frequently hold or attend parties on the day, and gifts are exchanged.
ZXONE 8700, ZTE’s series of 100G Optical Transport Network (OTN) systems, carried 90% of Alibaba’s operating data traffic on China Singles’ Day, as a surge in online shopping orders pushed Alibaba’s peak data traffic to almost 300 Gbps, sustained for a period of seven hours.
For the 24-hour duration of China Singles’ Day, ZTE’s systems deployed by Alibaba delivered excellent network performance and fault-free reliability, with no malfunction warning reported, according to the systems vendor. The unprecedented network traffic volume on Alibaba’s platforms on China Singles’ Day presented the sternest examination of the capabilities of ZXONE 8700, ZTE asserts.
In anticipation of China Singles’ Day, ZTE created a special task force to support Alibaba, developing contingency plans and conducting testing of core systems and backup equipment. Network specialists and product development engineers at ZTE collaborated to develop a set of instructions intended for various emergency scenarios, ensuring speedy system fault diagnosis and fast replacement of malfunctioning equipment to provide rapid service recovery.
ZTE’s special Alibaba taskforce also provided round-the-clock support in the run-up to China Singles’ Day at over 10 Alibaba network sites, including Hangzhou and Qingdao. A fleet of emergency vehicles was on standby for rapid deployment at Alibaba’s Hangzhou headquarters.
In June, ZTE was the sole winning bidder in Alibaba’s tender for a 100G OTN network, and was entrusted to help build the broadband network infrastructure supporting Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms including Alibaba.com, Taobao Marketplace, Tmall.com, eTao, Alipay, Juhuasuan, and Alibaba Cloud Computing (see “Alibaba taps ZTE for 100-Gbps optical transport”).
ZTE says it completed equipment delivery within 20 days of the signing of the agreement with Alibaba, and ZTE took fewer than 10 days to complete testing for the 100G and 80G networks. The rapid delivery and network installation capabilities exceeded Alibaba’s expectations, the vendor said in a statement.
For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.