Huawei to build China’s first 40Gbit transmission network

China Telecom, operator of the world’s largest fixed-line network has selected Huawei to build the country’s first 40Gbit WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) transmission network, in an effort to address the operator’s ever-increasing Internet bandwidth needs and to lay a foundation for providing high-bandwidth services.

The ultra high-capacity network will be built between Shanghai and Wuxi and will be capable of 10Gbit and 40Gbit hybrid transmissions.

While this is the first 40Gbit network of its kind in China, the technology has already been deployed in Europe, North America and other countries in Asia-Pacific.

According to 40Gbit advocates, the main advantages of the technology is a 50 per cent smaller footprint compared to 10Gbit-based systems, 20-40 per cent lower power requirements, as well as being easier to manage because of 75 per cent fewer wavelengths.

It is also considered beneficial when integrating with IP routers, as the routers work more efficiently if high bit-rate data streams remain intact, rather than being demultiplexed to several lower-rate signals.