Alcatel-Lucent touts GPON win with China Unicom

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) says it is not just any supplier, but the largest supplier to China Unicom’s fiber to the home (FTTH) broadband deployment in China. The firm will supply GPON equipment to 29 provinces as part of its effort to connect millions of households in China with high-speed Internet access and multimedia services.

Ericsson is also providing GPON equipment to China Unicom in “more than 10 provinces” (see “Ericsson supplies GPON gear to China Unicom”). The contracts illustrate the growing popularity of GPON technology in China.

With this deployment, China Unicom will be able to offer subscribers speeds of up to 100 Mbps, with guaranteed quality of service levels that will support delivery of a wide range of consumer and business services including IPTV, video-on-demand, and VoIP.

Rajeev Singh-Molares, president, Asia-Pacific at Alcatel-Lucent said: “This project represents another major milestone in the rapid expansion of broadband in China. It also demonstrates our strong and growing leadership position in the FTTx market as we help accelerate availability of superfast broadband throughout China.”

The technology Alcatel-Lucent will provide to China Unicom comprises the 7360 Intelligent Services Access Manager (ISAM) FX – the company’s highest capacity fiber access platform. The 7360 ISAM FX provides simultaneous support for the all major broadband delivery technologies including GPON, EPON, and point-to-point fiber, and enables both FTTH and FTTB deployment models.

Alcatel-Lucent is also a major supplier of GPON to China’s other main operators: China Telecom and China Mobile. (see “China Mobile, China Telecom select Alcatel-Lucent FTTH/FTTB PON deployments”).

For more information on FTTx/access systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.