ZTE to deploy world's largest OTN network for China Mobile

April 16, 2020

The contract covers China Mobile’s western network project, part of the service provider’s phase-13 centralized procurement for inter-provincial backbone transport network equipment.

Stephen Hardy

ZTE Corp. (0763.HK / 000063.SZ) says that it has won a contract from China Mobile to build what the company asserts will be the world’s largest OTN network. The contract covers China Mobile’s western network project, part of the service provider’s phase-13 centralized procurement for inter-provincial backbone transport network equipment.

The new OTN network will cover 19 provinces of China, with a total link length of 53,828 km. ZTE says it will provide different coding modes to meet long-haul, medium-haul, and short-haul transmission scenarios. The company states its Beyond-100G Flex Shaping algorithm will be used to achieve multi-point optimization on the optical and electrical layers.

China Mobile is in the midst of an OTN upgrade that will affect its entire nationwide network. The upgrade effort is split into two parts, one each for China Mobile’s eastern and western networks. ZTE says it has supported China Mobile’s western network infrastructure for some time, including the construction of a pair of 100G OTN western networks (see "ZTE trumpets China Mobile 100-Gbps OTN awards"). Those fiber networks covered 20 provinces and municipalities across China and covered 7,729,100 square km, about 80% of the land area of China.

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.