ZTE Corporation has been awarded a $147 million passive optical network (PON) equipment contract by China Telecom

ZTE Corporation has been awarded a $147 million passive optical net-work (PON) equipment contract by China Telecom. The equipment will support China Telecom’s City Optical Network project, launched in 2009, with the aim of providing customers with higher speed broadband access. Under the contract, ZTE will provide its ZXA10 x PON passive access system to the operator. The new network solution is based on triple-play service, which provides multicast and DBA capabilities, and supports high broadband subscriber access services such as HSI, VOIP, IPTV and CATV. Under China Telecom’s long-term plan, approximately 20 million fibre optic broadband lines will be deployed, allowing it to provide downlink speeds of up to 12 Mbps to over 70 per cent of rural areas, and up to 100 Mbps speeds in major cities across the country.