China Mobile is currently building a new optical transport network that will support improved data centre interconnect, consumer broadband services and 4G backhaul. The operator has chosen Nokia to build the integrated IP/optical transport network, and deployment has already begun. The network will also support the next-generation of network services, especially 5G.
The optical transport network for 13 city metro and two provincial backbone networks will see a number of vendors supplying equipment to help towards its deployment, and Nokia says that of all of these, it was ranked number one by the world's largest telecom operator.
China Mobile owns the largest network and the largest customer base, with 820 million subscribers, and more than 2,600,000 base stations installed. It has chosen Nokia’s 1830 PSS-24x packet/OTN multilayer switching platform for the core of the new network. The platform combines massive switching scale with high performance optics powered by the Photonic Service Engine technology.
Yu Xiaohan, head of the China Mobile customer team at Nokia Shanghai Bell, commented: ‘We are very pleased to work closely with China Mobile to provide the optical technology for its most advanced networks today and in the future. We'll continue to fulfil our mission by making people's life easier as we create the technologies that connect the world.’
Nokia Shanghai Bell was a new venture that launched last year after Nokia signed a definitive agreement with China Huaxin Post & Telecommunication Economy Development Center to integrate Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell (ASB) and Nokia's China business (see Nokia combines China businesses into new Shanghai Bell joint venture).
The collaboration with China Mobile is the latest in a longstanding partnership between the two companies. Last month, Nokia's Nuage Networks was chosen by the China Mobile (Suzhou) Software Technical Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Mobile, as the software-defined network platform for the operator’s public and private enterprise cloud services offering.
