Abu Dhabi: Etisalat Group, the leading telecoms operator in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, and Huawei have confirmed plans to jointly research and develop a more advanced category of fiber network technology that will help Etisalat to effectively meet rising service demands from consumers and businesses throughout the region.
The latest cooperative initiative will focus on the development of Single Carrier 400Gbps technology. This technology will help Etisalat Group to unify its transmission networks and benefit from lower power consumption, as well as simplified management and scheduling practices across its infrastructure. Through a series of trials and appraisals, Etisalat and Huawei will evaluate the possibility of commercial deployment of Single Carrier 400Gbps technology across Etisalat’s business footprint.
As a result of their cooperation, Huawei will support Etisalat Group to become the first ever operator in MENA region to trial and commercially launch Single Carrier 400Gbps technology in its transmission networks.
“Innovation is the key to progress in the dynamic telecommunications industry. At Etisalat we constantly assess new technology to expand our capabilities and to enhance our support of rapid business growth and to deliver the best services for our customers. There is growing service demand from businesses and consumers, and we believe this Single Carrier 400Gbps technology will increase performance in the coming years,” Hatem Bamatraf, Chief Technology Officer at Etisalat Group, said.
“This latest agreement not only enhances our partnership with Etisalat in technology innovation, but will help Etisalat to benefit from more integrated ICT solutions that make a real impact on the customer experience,” Alan Wang, President of Huawei Etisalat Global Key Account, said.
The Single Carrier 400Gbps technology requires only a single optical transceiver system to be utilized by the operator. Therefore, a 400Gbps system with a single carrier wave provides the operator with high integration capabilities and high availability, coupled with lower power consumption. Because only one carrier wave is used, the technology also makes management and scheduling on the transmission network easier compared to other multi-carrier solutions.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed during this week’s Mobile World Congress, and builds on the existing strong links between the two companies. In 2014, Etisalat and Huawei announced a plan to work on the joint exploration and deployment of 5G mobile broadband services as well as 40GPON fiber technology. Continuing in that same spirit, the latest MoU will assist Etisalat in deploying next generation technology on its transmission networks.