What can 10G optical network bring us?
According to the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily on November 26th, at the research symposium of the “Ten Gigabit Optical Network China Tour” Shanghai station, the chief engineer of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology pointed out that “China has achieved” gigabit connectivity in every county “, with 10G PON ports accounting for over 85% of the world’s total, gigabit broadband users accounting for nearly 70% of the world’s total, and average household access bandwidth reaching 499.1Mbps/household. More than 20 provinces and cities across the country have successively carried out pilot projects for the application of ten gigabit optical network technology. Currently, China has entered an important period of popularization of gigabit optical networks and the launch of ten gigabit optical networks
The launch of the 10G optical network began with Shanghai. Members of the Party Group of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Communications pointed out that since 2024, Shanghai has carried out the construction practice of “Guangyao Shencheng Ten Gigabit Sailing” and achieved remarkable results. Key indicators such as the number of 50G PON ports, the proportion of 10G PON ports, and the number of OTN stations owned by ten thousand people are leading the country. Demonstrations have been frequent in the fields of smart homes, intelligent manufacturing, and one-stop computing, and new tracks for integrated applications are gradually forming. Innovative research continues to emerge, and the first ten gigabit optical network industry organization – the “Guangyao Shencheng” Special Committee of the Shanghai Communication Society – has been established, establishing the first ten gigabit industry demonstration base in China. In response, Shanghai Telecom announced that it has built the world’s first 10 gigabit cloud broadband community (Poly Tianhui Community in Yangpu District), and plans to build 26 10 gigabit demonstration communities throughout the city by the end of the year. Shanghai Mobile has currently identified pilot communities for 10 gigabit optical networks and is developing corresponding pilot construction plans. It is expected that the pilot communities will officially release their numbers before the end of the year.
Compared to the supporting technology of 10G PON behind gigabit optical networks, the promotion of 10G optical networks this time is driven by the new generation of 50G PON technology. It cannot be denied that China’s broadband optical network construction has been leading the world in recent years. In recent years, the editor has stayed in Southeast Asia for nearly a month, and a very big feeling is that WiFi services are not popular and not cheap. For people who are familiar with the ubiquitous free WiFi in China, this feels a bit uncomfortable. So from this perspective, we can say that there is still a lot of market demand for the construction of optical network prices in Southeast Asian countries.
If there is still a lot of room for improvement in the construction of optical networks in Southeast Asian countries, China’s optical network construction faces the problem of finding a way out for excess bandwidth. Robert commented, “Although the penetration rate of China’s gigabit optical network is high, the number of users is still not enough, and China’s broadband development still faces the battle of going up the mountain.” He also said in the article that the purchase rate of gigabit broadband is less than a quarter, and it is difficult for operators to explain to users why they need higher bandwidth.
In the report of Science and Technology Daily, innovative businesses such as home XR, ultra high definition video, cloud NAS, cloud gaming, 3D live streaming, and 3D light sensing with a capacity of 10 gigabit are highly anticipated. The guaranteed bandwidth required for A1 digital human interaction in 4K 2D image quality is nearly 100Mbps. The binocular camera used for ultra high definition 3D live streaming can transmit 8K ultra high definition videos in real time to the live streaming platform, with a maximum bitrate of 150Mbps/channel and a guaranteed bandwidth of 300Mbps/channel.
Ideal remains ideal, but reality is still far from meeting these needs. Or even if you want it, local operators may not be able to provide it. Sometimes the construction of China’s optical network is not market driven, as a big shot said at a certain conference, we are more guided by technology. But ultimately, the size of the market determines the scale of the industry behind it. 50G PON has been called for so many years, and the entire industry chain is waiting for the market to explode. A month ago, Shanghai Telecom’s 50G PON tender only procured 19 sets of equipment.
Broadband development is the fundamental network infrastructure of a country. This time in Southeast Asia, I have a deeper understanding of this. I am fortunate to live and work in a country like China that has elevated the development of optical networks to such a high status. I hope that the country can push China’s 10 gigabit optical network construction to a new height like building high-speed railways, so that China’s optical communication industry can not rely on the market of any other country in the wor
