Corning Incorporated (NYSE:GLW) announced that China Unicom has selected Corning LEAF fiber for the optical backbone of its long-haul network. By the end of this year, China Unicom expects to deploy several hundred thousand kilometers of LEAF fiber for the initial phase of its network deployment.
China Unicom is building a 150,000-kilometer network providing points of presence in all major Chinese cities. China Unicom provides integrated telecommunications services, including cellular, paging, long distance, data and Internet services. China Unicom indicated that with the benefits LEAF fiber offers, China Unicom will be able to provide greater performance to more than 20 million Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network service subscribers and 47 million paging service subscribers as well as various international direct dialing and domestic direct dialing services at a lower cost.
LEAF fiber, with its patented large effective area design, offers China Unicom the lowest cost-per-bit advantage by allowing more power to be transmitted down the fiber than standard non-zero dispersion-shifted fibers, while minimizing non-linear effects that degrade system performance. That capability, combined with moderate dispersion in the 1550 nm operating window, offers higher data rates, longer reach and future flexibility with emerging technologies, all of which can drive down the cost of bandwidth.
LEAF fiber continues to be deployed by carriers worldwide, on six of the seven continents, in advanced, high data rate networks. Key LEAF fiber customers to date include Aerie Networks, Argus Telecommunications, AT&T, Broadwing Communications, Cable & Wireless, Carrier1, China Netcom, China Telecom, China Unicom, COLT Telecom Group plc, Communications Authority of Thailand, Eurotunnel, Interoute (i-21 network), Impsat, KG Telecom, LD COM, Level 3 Communications, Inc., NEESCom, TransTeleCom, Williams Communications and 360networks.
About Corning:
Established in 1851, Corning Incorporated manufactures optical fiber, cable and photonic products for the telecommunications industry; and high-performance displays and components for television and other communications-related industries. The company also uses advanced materials to manufacture products for scientific, semiconductor and environmental markets. For more information, visit www.corning.com.