Alcatel-Lucent  says that it will supply optical transport equipment to China Telecom as part of an upgrade to the carrier’s fiber-optic data network. The upgrade will also support China Telecom’s activities within the “Broadband China” program, a national initiative to deliver high-speed broadband connections to more than 250 million urban and rural homes by 2015.

The system’s provider previously received a contract to provide China Telecom with fiber to the home (FTTH) equipment for the Broadband China effort (see “Alcatel-Lucent to expand broadband FTTH network for China Telecom”).

China Telecom chose Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell to supply 70% of its requirements for 10G converged Optical Transport Network (OTN) and WDM technology platforms. Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell will supply the 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) under terms of the contract. The 1830 PSS will support 10-Gbps traffic, while providing China Telecom with the ability to transmit 40- and 100-Gbps wavelengths as well.

The upgrade program aims to increase the capacity of China Telecom’s optical transport network as well as extend it to all of China’s major cities. The expansion will enable China Telecom to reach more consumers and businesses with its fixed-line broadband access network, and increase the availability of both 3G- and WiFi-based wireless broadband services throughout the country.

Said Rajeev Singh-Molares, president, Asia Pacific for Alcatel-Lucent, “Chinese consumers and businesses are demanding increasingly sophisticated services requiring more and more bandwidth. As importantly, China has set aggressive targets to expand broadband availability to underserved segments of the society. Our optical technology will enable China Telecom to address these critical demands cost-effectively today, and lay the groundwork for the future expansion and acceleration of their network to support 100G transport in the future. China Telecom is to carry out large-scale deployment of 100G in the coming years, and we feel very confident that Alcatel-Lucent will enhance our partnership with China Telecom by leveraging our advanced solutions and extensive experience.”