20 December 2012, Shenzhen, China – ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”) (H share stock code: 0763.HK / A share stock code: 000063.SZ), a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment, network solutions and mobile devices, has helped T-Mobile Austria (TMA), a Deutsche Telekom subsidiary, to upgrade its optical network from 10G to 100G, increasing its backbone network capacity by a factor of 10.

TMA started to build its 10G backbone network in 2010, but with the continuing growth of its business, faced the combined challenges of traffic growth and capacity limitations. ZTE then carried out the upgrade of the network to 100G, protecting TMA’s investment and meeting the operator’s requirements for future business development.

ZTE’s self-developed 100G technologies utilising PM-QPSK modulation, coherent detection and SD-FEC have been employed for this network upgrade. Combining WSON (Wavelength Switched Optical Network) / GMPLS control plane and Mesh networking topology, ZTE’s solution can enhance network stability and reliability and reduce OPEX. In June 2012, British business journal Global Telecom Business granted TMA and ZTE its Fixed Backbone Innovation award for the application of the ZTE WSON technology and the companies’ successful cooperation.

The upgrade enables100G coherent detection,long-haul transport without OEO (optical-electronic-optical conversion) and high-bandwidth service transport between core sites.It fully protects TMA’s investment in the existing network, and helps to meet current business needs while reserving expansion space for future needs. The upgrade means that TMA can quickly adapt to future requirements for carrying high-speed services.

"The entire network was upgraded rapidly and ran stably,” said Xu Ming, ZTE Bearer Network general manager. “This demonstrates our capability to deploy 100G channels into an existing network.”

ZTE leads the market in areas such as 100G and 400G/1T and other new technologies. In 2012, ZTE and Deutsche Telekom demonstrated the 2450km multi-bitrate hybrid transmission of 100G/400G/1T signals, creating a field trial record for the longest distance for high-speed signal mixed transmission. In June 2012, ZTE released a 400G/1T DWDM prototype which provides seven different applications to varying network requirements.

ZTE has applied for dozens of patents in the 100G/beyond 100G area, covering aspects such as 100G optical modules, framers, chips and systems. ZTE has also completed many 100G/beyond 100G trial network projects with major carriers across China, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other regions, and is now a major engine of the rapid development of global high-speed optical communication transport technology.