Category: Insights

In today’s highly digital and data-driven environment, smart manufacturing requires a robust and reliable network infrastructure. Employees all along the supply chain need to be able to track orders, inventory, and deliveries—in addition to monitoring and managing production equipment. A minor network glitch or security breach could halt an entire production operation in just milliseconds.

China Telecom Americas (CTA) has the expertise and technology to ensure maximum uptime, security, speed and efficiency through a full suite of cost-effective IT management services tailored for smart manufacturing. CTA’s flexible and reliable solutions include cloud, colocation and connectivity options, such as software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN).

The proliferation of cloud applications and IoT connected devices requires manufacturers to have a flexible and agile platform to effectively route traffic between distant facilities. CTA’s best-in-class SD-WAN solution delivers network controls to secure and manage data while providing access to customers, partners and employees around the world. Ideal for the manufacturing environment, CTA’s SD-WAN platform offers intelligent cost-effective application performance to improve the end-user experience. When configured for manufacturing, CTA’s SD-WAN platform can adapt in real-time to varying bandwidth demands and network conditions, providing reliable, secure global connectivity with access to global cloud platforms.

CTA: Advancing Manufacturing Operations

CTA also offers expert, responsive IT management services that include consulting, planning and deployment services to build your IT network capabilities as your business grows, along with industry-leading cloud services. Today’s global manufacturers need to keep people, data and applications connected and coordinated. With CTA’s cloud services, manufacturers get private connectivity between cloud service providers’ availability zones both inside and outside China. CTA also offers access to China Telecom’s own global cloud infrastructure, with enterprise-grade compute, storage, and networking facilities.

If you are ready to take the next step, contact us here to speak to one of our dedicated provisioning team members and learn how CTA can build your bridge to smart manufacturing on a global scale.

China Telecom is committed to connecting customers around the world by providing reliable, high-speed internet and data connectivity. That’s why CTA’s affiliate has joined a consortium of Southeast Asian telecommunications providers to jointly invest USD $300M into a new subsea cable system. Aptly named the Asia Link Cable (ALC), the system aims to boost data capacity throughout the region while also upgrading local network capacities.

Executive Vice President of CTA’s affiliate, Mr. Wu Xiaolei, says, “We take great pride in playing an essential role in developing and promoting cloud and network integration. We welcome different service providers or industry partners in this endeavor, in the hopes that we can better serve our customers. With this cable, we will provide greater value to this community of partners, service providers, and customers, and achieve success together.”

CTA’s affiliate will co-lead the project alongside Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (Singtel), with both companies joined by their respective Philippines-based affiliates, as well as DITO Telecommunity Corporation (DITO), Globe Telecom, Inc. (Globe), and Unified National Networks Sdn Bhd (UNN) of Brunei Darussalam. The cable system will be supplied by HMN Tech, with construction expected to be complete by the third quarter of 2025.

Connecting key markets beneath the sea

Approximately 6,000 kilometers long, the primary “trunk” of the ALC system will run from Hong Kong SAR, China, to Singapore. Additional branches will connect out to Hainan in China, Luna and Bauang in the Philippines, and Tungku in Brunei Darussalam.

Recognizing the demand for low latency and high bandwidth, the project will cater to the region’s growing digital economies and online populations, both of which have been further fueled by the recent global pandemic. The six markets in this region—Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines—are currently home to 460 million internet users.

Mr. Wu Xiaolei explains, “In the digitalization era, the Asia Link Cable (ALC) is critical for connecting and creating value for our customers, especially in Asia. We are aiming to achieve a more sustainable environment and community as well as enhancing the efficiency of our communication processes by building strong and reliable undersea cables around the world.”

The subsea system, which will have a minimum of eight fiber pairs and an 18Tbps per fiber pair minimum trunk capacity design, will increase resiliency for international traffic by providing additional hyper capacity throughout the region. It will also widen route diversity and increase capacity for existing Southeast Asian networks. An open cable system architecture will also allow telecommunications providers to select and maintain independent line terminal equipment so they can meet their respective customer needs, reducing dependence on any single provider within the consortium.

“ALC is a great accomplishment by Asian carriers that overcame the difficulties of Covid impacts,” says ALC Co-Chair and a director of CTA’s affiliate, adding, “It’s also the only subsea project with zero face-to-face meetings from the MoU to the C&MA signing in the industry. The ALC consortium adopts an open and inclusive principle and will attract more investors in the near future to make it more cost effective, which will reinforce the resilience of interconnectivity in Asia and better serve the digital economy in the region.”

To learn more about China Telecom’s extensive global network of data centers, terrestrial cable systems, and submarine cable systems, visit our global network page.

Telecommunications technology and the global internet has already seen several waves of change in the 21st century. The question on everyone’s minds now is: What’s next? We spoke with Stephanie Condrell, Head of Carrier Wholesale and Service Provider Partnerships, of China Telecom Americas (CTA) to hear what this industry insider sees on the horizon. Ms. Condrell has worked for China Telecom Americas for 15 years and in the broader global telecoms, data center and ISP industry for 33 years, giving her unique insights into the sector’s trajectory. Our discussion below has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: What are some of the major ways the telecom industry has changed during your tenure? How has China Telecom Americas pivoted to adapt to these changes?

A: Much has changed in our industry globally, and this change is most pronounced in China. Broadly speaking, consumers and businesses alike are demanding easy, convenient and fast ways to connect. This has led to massive bandwidth consumption and an explosion in virtualization.  In turn, both traditional telecom operators and a new category of communications service provider has been prompted to create new offerings that put the technology stack into the cloud and drive innovative solutions to meet customer demand.

When I joined CTA in 2008, China had the most internet users in the world with 250+ million, and today that number now stands at over 1 billion.  I’ve witnessed significant industry investments in fiber resources, data centers in an effort to increase broadband access across the country, making China the global leader in terms of installed telecommunication bandwidth by 2012.  That year also marked the establishment of China Telecom’s Cloud Computing division, known as “CT Yun” which has become the largest among China’s cloud providers in terms of availability zones.

Outside of China, China Telecom is increasingly known for its Tier-1 global IP network coverage.  As the world’s 10^th largest carrier by revenue, China Telecom is a relatively new entrant in the market for global network services making investments in over 40 subsea cable systems and 250 Points of Presence (PoPs) just in the past 20 years.

Furthermore, China Telecom has evolved service offerings to help global carriers and service provider partners to not only leverage China Telecom for network capacity globally, but also for our expertise designing and deploying custom edge-to-cloud, edge-to-core connectivity options that help our customers extend their service offering to end-users with locations in China.  CTA also provides immense value by offering billing, contracts, engineering, and customer service support teams here in the United States and 80+ countries around the world.

Q: The industry seems to be evolving even faster now. What is China Telecom doing to keep up?

A: That’s absolutely right. Over time, bandwidth resources have improved, but the rise of cloud services, 5G, OTT, Internet of Things, AI / Machine Learning, and Big Data applications have shifted the paradigm again.

Service providers and enterprises alike are investing more heavily in globally distributed networks to offer new applications and improved digital experiences which require transformation to more advanced infrastructure. Many carriers and service providers alike have embraced Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technologies to allow faster, easier procurement, provisioning and management of networks, and China Telecom is no different. China Telecom has collaborated on many open-source initiatives to help make networks more interoperable and intelligent.

Today, China Telecom operates a fully cloud-connected, multi-terabit, Tier 1 global IP network with a cloud fabric across 60 cloud exchanges leveraging APIs and NNIs with over 110 leading cloud providers and carrier partners that connect China to the global internet.

The next phase of our development is to improve customer experience by offering more automation in network management, as well as offering more access options like private 5G to satisfy the increase in network agility and resiliency.  Best of all, our industry partners can leverage CT’s robust foundation in China, our global network resources, and extensive product portfolio to deliver services to their end-customers.

Q: What does the service provider landscape look like now in China?

A: A lot more competitive! However, the focus seems to always be on price, not necessarily on solutions that will work, and those that will work long term.

With over a billion internet users in China, bandwidth economics and service performance are always a factor in any conversation, especially as the IT industry shifts to application delivery over public internet. As such, many cloud service provider partners want more than just bandwidth.  Increasingly, hyperscale cloud service provider customers are requesting management capabilities to make administrative changes on the carrier’s core network which is opening up many new conversations, particularly as market dynamics evolve and technologies like private 5G, multiple edge access compute (MEC) and network slicing gain prominence in China.

Nevertheless, over my tenure at China Telecom Americas, I’m amazed how quickly the company has evolved to make our network more accessible for global service providers to resell services to their customers in China.  Not to say the solution for China will emulate the way things are done in the rest of world, but complex problems can be overcome by having conversations to fully understand all the solutions available to meet each customer’s unique needs.

This change in the conversations means we are working much more closely with carriers and cloud service provider partners on a project-by-project basis to develop custom, purpose-built solutions that are capable of meeting long-term, complex requirements. While the solutions may differ globally, ultimately our approach delivers a reliable quality of experience for our customers and their end-customers alike.

Q: With Global expansion and “all things internet” comes additional security concerns. How is CT addressing some of these concerns?

A: Many organizations, including China Telecom, have adopted Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security or “MANRS” to mitigate against Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) route leaks, outages, and hijacks in global network operations. By adopting MANRS frameworks, China Telecom Americas gives our customers and partners added confidence in our routing security so they can continue scaling and digitizing their operations.

We are proud to be the first Chinese service provider to join MANRS and have always strived to be a responsible operator of our internet resources.   CT also works around the clock in every corner of the world with multiple global NOC teams to defend its network from attacks and protect its customers from threats while maintaining compliance with local cybersecurity regulations in every market we operate.

Q: How has the Covid-19 pandemic impacted China Telecom Americas?

A: People mistakenly believe that business is at a standstill in China due to the pandemic.  However, I can assure you just the opposite – businesses have had to adapt and advance to meet a host of new digital demands.

With the migration to the remote workplace, eCommerce, and other online activities, the demand for reliable edge connectivity and technology solutions has exploded in the past two years in China. Furthermore, as China continues to re-open supply-chains and capacity is ramping back up, we are seeing a return to IT investment and increasing demand for services.

Many use-cases involve transforming certain legacy architectures to focus more on edge-to-core and edge-to-cloud network requirements that demand high performance compute, consistent quality of service with smaller data center footprints.  In response, CT has invested heavily in building state-of-the-art green data centers, increasing interconnectivity options across Internet Exchange points (IXPs) and upgrading cable capacity to overcome shortfalls and price pressures in many APAC markets, not just in China.

Q:  How should service providers who want to learn more about doing business in China engage with you?

A: Connect with us on LinkedIn, through our website, or look for us at upcoming events in 2023, such as PTC and ITW, so we can chat about your goals! We recognize that expanding into new markets can be overwhelming, costly, and time-consuming. If you are seeking to grow in China, we focus on easing those pain points by first taking a deep dive to understand what each of our clients are trying to accomplish.  Then we leverage our tenure, knowledge, and local market expertise to devise solutions that utilize CT’s resources to help our service provider partners expand their portfolio to their end customers.

Our mission is to build relationships through transparency, knowledge, confidence, and trust.  We pride ourselves on creating innovative technology solutions that generate new revenue opportunities and provide the best global communications experience for their end-user customers. We look forward to working together to keep businesses and people connected around the world!

The ubiquity of new technology, from smart phones to 3D-printers, is a sign that the fourth Industrial Revolution is upon us. Feeling the impact of this technological shift, China is striving to advance Industry 4.0 through its investment in an expanded network of data centers—the global currency of the new technological market.

The Rise of the Chinese Data Center Market

The data center market in China is vast and growing exponentially. A recent report by analysts at Mordor Intelligence valued the market at $13 billion in 2020 and expects it to reach $36 billion by 2026, at a compounded annual growth rate of 19.2%. This growth is supported by China’s leadership in computing: with 227 supercomputers as of June 2020, China has top technological capacity.

Demand for increased computing capacity is fueled by emerging technologies as well as the pandemic. Smart devices, 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), AI, blockchain, quantum computing, and the uptick of mobile payment systems in China all contribute to the rising need for data centers. Large enterprises that operate in China including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, Microsoft, and AWS require highly secure and interconnected facilities to keep up with the quantity and quality of digital services and experiences that their consumers demand.

The Chinese data center market was valued at $13 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $36 billion by 2026

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this demand as data usage spiked during lockdown. As in many nations around the world, strict quarantine measures in China forced many people to depend on e-commerce. According to Mordor Intelligence, the online entertainment market also grew enormously as people were connecting remotely for both work and entertainment in their homes. The corresponding boom in data usage is expected to continue as video streaming, e-commerce, games, and other businesses maintain their strong positions in the Chinese market. Currently, more than 70% of China’s 1.4 billion population uses e-commerce services, and more data centers are being built to respond to this growing need.

China Telecom: Meeting the Moment

To keep up with growing demand for data center space, China Telecom, the parent company of China Telecom Americas, is building a new 200,000 square meter cloud connected  facility in Sichuan province. Located in the Yibin Lingang Economic and Technological Development, the data center aims to provide service to Sichuan’s Tier 1 cities, Chengdu and Chongqing. The Chengdu-Chongqing metro area is one of eight nodes that China Telecom services, along with Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Inner Mongolia, Guizhou, Gansu, and Ningxia.

The Sichuan data center boasts a capacity of 10,000 cabinets and extensive security, including monitoring cameras, a micro shield access control system, and dynamic detection. It also features a carrier-neutral fast Internet, redundant backup system, temperature- and humidity-controlled environment, and abundant power resources at low operating costs. Minding the long-term impacts of construction, the data center’s future-focused energy-saving and environmental protection technology ensures low carbon emissions.

China Telecom’s Additional Initiatives

The Sichuan project is one of several that China Telecom, China Telecom Americas’ parent company, is undertaking to enable cloud-network integration in China. An ISO/IEC 20000 certified provider, China Telecom is internationally recognized for exceptional IT service management. Its cloud-to-digital transformation strategy is based on a simple model: the network is the foundation, the cloud is the core, the network moves with the cloud, and the cloud and network are integrated. To bring this model to life, China Telecom is participating in the overall layout design of the national integrated big data center system.

A key part of the strategy is to centralize the layout of computing resources in eight metro areas. China Telecom’s shift from networks based on administrative divisions to networks based on hubs optimizes the benefits of cloud technology. It provides better cloud access to major population and business centers, more efficiently concentrating resources in areas of China that need them the most. The aim is to make up for shortage of resources in the east while fully revitalizing resources in the west—thereby integrating both the eastern and western nodes into one cohesive network.

China Telecom is also reducing the operating expense of data centers. A major driver of cost is energy usage, so China Telecom is investing in state-of-the-art energy-efficient technology to offer better prices while also protecting the environment. As more and more enterprises emphasize sustainability in their financial models, data centers that are truly green will prove their value in spades.

China Telecom’s cloud-to-digital transformation strategy is based on a simple model: the network is the foundation, the cloud is the core, the network moves with the cloud, and the cloud and network are integrated.

With data usage skyrocketing, China is set to lead the global data center market with the help of key partners like China Telecom, whose infrastructure includes over 180 tier 3+ data centers across China and over 100 points of presence globally to serve customers. China Telecom’s cloud-to-digital transformation strategy allows businesses and consumers to reap the full benefits of cloud technology. Its initiatives will bring security, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness to the Chinese data center market, fueling the technological advances of the future.

To learn more about China Telecom’s data center strategy, check out our slide deck.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has created a sea change in the way companies operate—particularly in the realm of manufacturing. Around the world, businesses are using IoT to make higher-quality products at lower cost and more sustainably. And in the consumer world, smart devices have dramatically altered the way people live their lives, from making purchases to finding information. The global IoT market, which has been growing at 26.9%  for several years now, shows no signs of slowing—according to Market Data Forecast, it’s projected to reach $875 billion by 2025.

Outside of the Americas, China is the biggest producer and consumer of IoT goods. To understand the future of IoT, this is where we need to look. Chinese innovations will transform the manufacturing industry—and will require greater investment in cybersecurity from all who do business there.

China is a Major Player in the IoT market

China is a leading manufacturer of connected devices in a global IoT market that will only continue to grow in the coming years. According to IDC, there will be 55.9 billion connected devices by 2025. China Telecom, the parent company of China Telecom Americas, estimates that in 2020, 95% of those devices were manufactured in China. As demand increases, China will be playing an ever-greater role in the global IoT market.

The IoT market within China itself is formidable. In 2019, China had 5.5 billion connected devices. And Statista found that the overall Chinese IoT market rose from $110 billion in 2015 to $246 billion in 2020, further projecting that it will reach $412 billion by 2025. This exponential growth indicates that China’s position as a major consumer of smart devices dovetails with its role as a primary producer of these goods.

Strong Support from the Public Sector is Driving the Expansion of IoT in China

According to Forrester, China’s embrace of IoT-enabled technology is powered by two significant initiatives: Internet Plus and Made in China 2025. The Internet Plus roadmap aims to integrate cloud computing, big data, and IoT with industries such as manufacturing, medicine, and finance. The public sector has already invested $4.4 billion into R&D for smart devices.

The Made in China 2025 initiative narrows the focus to Chinese intelligent manufacturing. Its goal is to upgrade China’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in order to expand high-tech industries including robotics, aviation, and electric vehicles. By explicitly supporting smart manufacturing, Internet Plus and Made in China 2025, China’s public sector is championing future growth in this market.

Manufacturing Will Be Transformed by China’s IoT

Manufacturing is the next frontier of the IoT revolution, and China is its main backdrop. With nearly a third of the world’s cellular connections in the machine-to-machine (M2M) market, China stands to benefit greatly from further development of smart technology. Beyond streamlining the supply chain, reducing waste, and minimizing environmental damage, IoT-enabled devices can boost GDP. China Telecom estimates that over 60% of the IoT’s GDP impact in China will come from implementing M2M.

To that end, China Telecom is partnering with General Electric to advance M2M in China. Together, China Telecom and GE are developing a software platform to bring data analytics to China’s industrial sector and are also collaborating in cloud-based image storage, telemedicine applications, advanced manufacturing and cloud computing.

The Challenge of Creating Unified IoT Standards

According to iResearch China, there are at least 10 common IoT wireless communication technologies, 14 sensing standards, and 23 network transmission standards in China alone. New IoT platforms keep emerging, but most do not integrate with others on the market. The development of many different IoT platforms, protocols, and security practices has resulted in an uneven Internet landscape.

As the IoT market continues to evolve, the challenge will be to streamline platforms and collaborate globally so that all regions can benefit from global IoT standards. As a leader in both the Chinese and global IoT markets, as well as provisioning the Internet service that enables this technology across 80% of the nation, China Telecom, the parent company of China Telecom Americas, is a key partner in several open-source initiatives, including 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP), and OpenStack Foundation (OSF). Its commitment to IoT standards makes it well positioned to create a secure, streamlined, and accessible IoT landscape across China and beyond.

To learn more about China Telecom Americas’ IoT solutions, visit our manufacturing page.

The arrival of 5G has implications for many different aspects of business and daily life. That includes electronic sports (“E-sports”), a form of competition using video games.

In one of the most recent developments in this area, China Telecom and Tencent jointly released the 5G e-sports private network solution and unveiled the 5G + E-sports Joint Laboratory. The laboratory consists of teams from China Telecom, Tencent Cloud, Tencent Interactive Entertainment Tianmei E-sports Center, Tencent Interactive Entertainment Public R&D Operation System and Tencent TEG Network Platform Department.

With the joint laboratory, China Telecom and Tencent will explore innovative applications such as 5G and edge computing in the field of E-sports, continue to enrich 5G E-sports private network solutions, and bring better technical services to E-sports and other industries, according to a published report by INEWS.

Shorter Deployment Time

The 5G E-sports private network solution is reportedly capable of shortening the network deployment time from weeks or even months with traditional solutions to just a few hours. Among the other reported benefits is that the solution conducts in-depth optimization for E-sports scenarios and provides high reliability, the report said.

A key feature of the solution is its network isolation capability, which enables the system to prevent external interference and ensure the quality of an event. The platform also integrates the security capabilities of Tencent Security Tianma Lab and Tencent Security Joint Lab, providing network security of 5G e-sports private networks.

China Telecom and relevant teams from Tencent in the fourth quarter of 2021 began jointly working on the project design, development and trial work of the lightweight 5G E-sports private network, with plans to deploy the 5GC and E-sports private network operation and management systems on Tianyi Cloud.

The solution has been implemented in the King of Glory Professional League and the QQ Speed ​​S League, “supporting the stable progress of over 100 professional games,” according to the report by INEWS.

Tencent joined with China Telecom because it has the most data centers in China and the largest network, ChinaNet, with more than 400 million subscribers. CTA has the infrastructure to provide the networking experience needed to deliver quality gaming experiences and avoid issues that degrade performance.

Growing Market

The number of E-sports users in China was estimated to reach 474 million in 2021 and core users 234 million, according to the “2021 China E-sports Industry Research Report.”

The market presents both challenges and opportunities. While the E-sports industry is growing at a rapid pace, there have been problems such as an uneven development of industrial regions and restricted infrastructure. As the published report notes, at present most of the E-sports competition network uses a combination of wired and WiFi connections, and there are problems such as complex network deployment and optimization. Network performance is susceptible to interference and service fluctuation.

Despite any hurdles, the growth of E-sports is expected to continue, spurred in part by the rise in 5G services. A report by research firm Kenneth Research released in May 2022 estimates that the global E-sports market will triple between 2021 and 2025, reaching $3 billion by the end of the forecast period.

The proliferation of smartphones, increasing processing power and growing popularity of 5G networks will contribute to the growth, the aforementioned report states. During this period the gaming industry is expected to be more interactive and streaming based, said study states. The countries that generate a major portion of the revenue in the gaming industry include China, Japan, the U.S., Germany, South Korea, France, Canada, and the U.K.

As enterprises in China and other countries launch or expand a number of digital initiatives to support their businesses, emerging private 5G networks—which enable organizations to dedicate bandwidth for highly reliable, low latency use cases—stand to play a major role in supporting those endeavors.

Research firm, International Data Corp. (“IDC”), in a March 2022 report forecasted that worldwide private LTE/5G wireless infrastructure revenues will reach $8.3 billion by 2026, a significant increase from revenues of $1.7 billion in 2021. The market is expected to see a five-year compound annual growth rate of 36% over the 2022-2026 forecast period, according to IDC.

IDC defines private LTE/5G wireless infrastructure as any 3GPP-based cellular network deployed for a specific enterprise or industry vertical that provides dedicated access to private resources. “This could include dedicated spectrum, dedicated hardware and software infrastructure, and which has the ability to support a range of use cases spanning fixed wireless access, traditional and enhanced mobile broadband, IoT endpoints/sensors, and ultra-reliable, low-latency applications,” the firm says.

On the Edge

While it’s still relatively early in the 5G timeline, companies should be preparing to leverage the latest wireless technologies. One key area where private 5G is likely to play a significant role is edge computing and how it can enhance supply chains.

Improving supply chain management has been a key priority for companies in a variety of industries, particularly with the challenges they have been facing during the pandemic. In a January 2022 report, research firm Gartner Supply Chain Practice predicted that 25% of supply chain decisions will be made across intelligent edge ecosystems, driven by evolving data communications networks including 5G, through 2025.

Historically, digital supply chain investments prioritized large-scale, centralized applications in domains such as manufacturing and logistics, said Andrew Stevens, Senior Director Analyst with the Gartner Supply Chain Practice (“Gartner”). Increasingly, supply chains are becoming more dynamic and cover larger networks where data and decisions originate at the edge—from operators, machines, sensors or devices, he says.

Edge ecosystems transform operations by allowing decision making close to the original source of information, Gartner stated. Enabling data processing, communications and storage at the point of data capture creates more even workflows, distributes data capacity and streamlines real-time responses to stakeholders who need to make decisions.

Advances in data communications services such as 5G are poised to support edge ecosystems and complement traditional centralized supply chain solutions with more virtualized and remote networks processing data, Gartner stated.

Another major use case for 5G is the Internet of Things (IoT). A 2022 report by consulting firm EY says many of the organizations involved in its study are interested in using private networks to support 5G and IoT use case implementation.

Among the potential applications are systems and process optimization, monitoring management and control and orchestration, customer insights and feedback, personalized products and services, predictive or real-time operations, and energy efficiency and sustainability.

China Promotes 5G

In China, regulatory authorities have been gradually promoting the commercial use of 5G private networks. A 2021 report by GSMA, an organization that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, described a number of 5G use cases already in place in China.

The study, prepared jointly with Chinese operators and industry partners, noted 5G-empowered applications including industrial manufacturing, ports/mines, transportation, electric power, healthcare and content creation. For example, organizations have built 5G base stations in challenging conditions such as underground coal mines; used 5G live streaming to enable smart inventory management; and deployed private 5G network slices to ensure precision time service in grid power distribution in urban areas.

Internet Protocol version 6 (“IPv6”), the most recent version of the Internet Protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic across the Internet, isn’t new. IPv6 became a draft standard for the Internet Engineering Task Force (“IETF”) in 1998 and was ratified as an Internet standard in 2017.

But indications are that IPv6 is finally heading for some significant growth over the coming years, in large part to address the shortage of IP address assignments available under IPv4.

A study by Research and Markets projects that the global IPv6 market will grow from $1.13 billion in 2019 to $6.07 billion in 2025, at a compound annual growth rate 32%. The study indicated a number of factors are driving growth of the market, including increasing penetration of the Internet across all key regions, robust sales of personal computers and mobile devices that increased the demand for more IP addresses, and the rapid growth of the Internet of Things (“IoT”).

Benefits of IPv6

IPv6 uses a 128-bit addressing scheme, compared with the 32-bit addressing scheme used by IPv4. Not only does it have the capability to support far more devices than the previous version, but it can increase packet handling efficiency, enhance performance and significantly improve security, the report notes.

Internet giant Google collects statistics about IPv6 adoption on an ongoing basis by continuously measuring the availability of IPv6 connectivity among Google users. As of the end of April 2022, 40% of users had access to the protocol, an increase from 28% during early 2020.

Major Internet and cloud computing forces such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) are embracing this protocol. For example, in April 2022 AWS announced that Amazon Relational Database Service (“RDS”) now offers customers the option to use IPv6 addresses in their Virtual Private Cloud (“VPC”) on new and existing RDS instances.

The continued growth of the Internet is exhausting the available IPv4 addresses. “IPv6 increases the number of available addresses several fold and customers no longer need to manage overlapping address spaces in their VPCs,” AWS states.

China’s Effort for Faster IPv6 Adoption

Other countries are making plans to leverage the latest Internet protocol to handle the increasing number of devices and networks. For example, China’s Central Cyberspace Administration announced a plan for further and faster adoption of IPv6 nationwide and outlined plans to drive new developments for the protocol, according to an April 2022 report in The Register.

Such report indicates that China has set a number of goals for IPv6 adoption by the end of 2022, including 700 million active IPv6 users; 180 million IPv6 connections for IoT; IPv6 use by 13% of fixed network traffic; IPv6 use by 45% of mobile traffic; IPv6 adoption by 85% of government and major commercial websites; and IPv6 enablement by default in all new home routers.

A 10-point plan to achieve those goals includes initiatives to encourage greater adoption of IPv6 by cloud platforms, video streamers, and in major industries such as financial services and agriculture, according to The Register report.

If networking teams at large global enterprises are not closely following developments with Web3, they should be. Web3, also known as Web 3.0, is a concept for a new iteration of the Web based on blockchain technology, which incorporates practices including decentralization and token-based economics.

Some have maintained that Web3 will offer increased scalability, cyber security and data privacy for users and counteract the clout possessed by powerful technology companies. Even though much about Web3 might be theoretical and still evolving at this point, it’s a good idea for enterprises to understand what it might look like at a global scale and what it might mean for their businesses.

According to a March 2022 article by Bloomberg, the concept of Web3 has captivated investors and the technology industry for more than a year.

“In some respects, Web3 is a successful re-brand of blockchain technology, a similarly hot trend that attracted growing levels of venture capital investment for several years until 2018, when funding levels faltered,” the article states. “That all changed in 2021: Investment into web3 startups suddenly zoomed up to $23.7 billion, according to startup market intelligence firm Pitchbook.”

New Business Models

Research firm Gartner stated in a February 2022 article that Web3 will not overtake Web 2.0 in the enterprise before the end of the decade, “but you can start talking today about a world with less authority and more automated business execution.”

Web3 makes peer-to-peer interactions the essence of a “new generation of networked commerce and society,” Gartner said. “It retires centralized platforms, servers and authorities as the key managers of information and value flows.” Web3 will initially benefit large enterprises through applications that benefit from new blockchain-enabled business models and social and gaming networks.

The first step for IT and business executives is to understand the key ways in which Web3 differs from Web 2.0, the early Web3 use cases and related technologies, Gartner noted.

Web3 is attractive to businesses because it enables peer-to-peer interactions without centralized platforms and intermediaries. It is “intended to give any participant in the web their own autonomous power and control,” said Whit Andrews, distinguished vice president and analyst at Gartner.

Existing Web3 applications are limited in enterprises, Gartner said, but public applications such as decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), play-to-earn games and community-organized decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), are thriving.

“Examples of Web3 success in well-established industries are sparse, and large enterprises will likely be slow to cede governance, oversight and control of applications they use in conjunction with other digital ecosystem participants in order to move to Web3,” Gartner stated. “Nevertheless, most organizations will ultimately want to implement applications and processes that benefit from trust-minimized computing and new business models and opportunities that only Web3 promises to enable.”

The firm said among the enabling protocols and technologies for Web3 are privacy-preserving, trustworthy off-chain computing integrated with on-chain smart contracts; cross-chain interoperability that enables assets to move easily across isolated blockchains; and middleware abstraction layers that make it easier for developers to implement portable applications.

Other components will include scalability tools that remove the computing burden from primary base-level blockchains such as Ethereum and Bitcoin; distributed, persistent and secure storage systems for off-chain data linked to blockchains; technologies such as privacy-preserving protocols that protect confidential information, and artificial intelligence (AI) models that can infuse NFTs with intelligence.

Worldwide Impact

Clearly, the latest iteration of the Web, whenever it comes to the mainstream, has the potential to impact countries worldwide.

“Web3.0 is expected to greatly improve the existing Internet ecosystem, effectively solve the problems of monopoly, lack of privacy protection, and malicious algorithms in the Web 2.0 era, making the Internet more open, inclusive and secure,” Yao Qian, director of the Science and Technology Supervision Bureau of China’s Securities Regulatory Commission, wrote in an article published in March 2022.

As a public infrastructure, the construction of Web 3.0 needs to “give full play to the innovative spirit of the private sector, through mass innovation and competition,” the article stated.

Some are recommending that CIOs and other executives approach Web3 with caution. “Much of Web3 sounds attractive in theory: Enthusiasts promise a Web that’s fairer, not dominated by big tech companies, and where users control their own data,” noted Martha Bennett, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research.

“Whether it’ll be possible to deliver on these promises is another matter,” Bennett said. “Signs to date indicate that turning theory into practice is proving difficult in key respects. We’re already observing the emergence of power structures very like the current unequal power structures that Web3 advocates want to replace.”

As multinational companies expand, geographically distributed satellite offices, data centers, and cloud-based applications stretch the capabilities of dedicated MPLS circuits, aging routers, and classic WANs.

Network planners have to balance competing data interests and needs throughout the network.  Being able to integrate multiple network elements without degrading app performance is critical.

Business leaders are looking to find technology solutions that will achieve or maintain competitive dominance in their industry.  To do this they are increasingly reliant on network-heavy applications, especially SaaS apps in the Cloud.  They also find themselves stretching capacity limits at their branch locations due to aging hardware and network limitations, further decreasing productivity.  Cloud storage, internet-based software not addressed in earlier WAN implementations, and mobile connectivity, all exacerbate the problem.

So they look for options that address these issues.  That’s where the hybrid WAN comes in.

What is a hybrid WAN?

A hybrid WAN is a wide area network that routes traffic over two or more connection types.  Typically that’s a dedicated multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) circuit along with a broadband connection to the internet or VPN to a data center.

The hybrid WAN is a step up from the traditional WAN for several reasons.  You can optimize traffic between the MPLS link and internet in order to keep the traffic flowing. Override paths based on real time monitoring – bypassing links with latency, jitter or packet loss.  Prioritize certain mission-critical data to run through the MPLS circuit and choose the internet for lower priority traffic.

By having multiple options for routing traffic, The hybrid WAN solution provides significant benefits.

• Rather than implementing high cost and lengthy MPLS implementations to accommodate larger traffic volumes and support high-bandwidth data needs, the hybrid WAN can utilize cheaper broadband internet services to replace or support existing MPLS paths.
• Optimize traffic with straightforward traffic orchestration software tools instead of constantly patching up existing technology to keep up with the business need.
• Gain better traffic visibility so you can adjust traffic at will, in real time.
• Scale with VPN for improved security.

While connecting data centers via MPLS makes good sense for the core data backbone, as organizations increase their Software as a Service (SaaS) subscriptions and shift more data to the Cloud, they are finding it no longer useful to backhaul all traffic from branch offices to headquarters solely via MPLS circuit.  Alternative traffic routing methodologies need to be explored.

It all starts with SDN.

Software-defined networking (SDN) separates the control plane from the data plane.  By separating the two, management of the network can be centralized and policy-based programmatic rules established.  The SDN approach can work with both integrated hardware/software as well as software that controls commodity routers.

The results of the SDN approach are datacenter and application data flows are optimized through automated provisioning, strategic network management, visibility to applications traffic, and direct alignment with cloud platforms.

SDN technology is most used for Enterprise Data Centers that require network architectures that are adaptable to the business need and not tied down by physical appliance limitations.

The promise of SDN is reduced network complexity, network function automation, straightforward provisioning and network resource management.  This includes all aspects from the data center to the satellite office to the wide area network.

IDC estimates the SDN market worldwide will grow to over $12 billion in 2022 (was at $5 billion in 2017).

In 2020, the global software-defined networking (SDN) market reached 8 billion U.S. dollars in size…Geographical regions within this market projected to experience growth are China, Japan, Canada, and Germany. – Statistica

Once you separate out the control plane from the data, equipment choice no longer becomes a limit to network function.

Equipment flexibility with NFV.

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) replaces traditional telecommunications network hardware (routers, firewalls) with software that can run off-the-shelf commodity servers.  This enables operators to deploy new functionality at will, without having to change out or add expensive hardware.

By shifting away from customized black box equipment (high-volume servers, switches and storage), the NFV software-based solution provides significant benefits.

• Cost reduction. Utilizing software to run commodity-priced standard servers and reduce reliance on expensive servers with integrated software/software.
• Efficiency.  Leveraging appliances through software allows for better hardware choices.  Equipment can be selected to optimize space, reduce power consumption and cooling requirements, and data center space utilization can be improved.
• Speed.  Avoiding time consuming equipment replacement and additions, software, separated from the hardware, improves agility and rapid deployment opportunities.
• Flexibility. Scale up or scale down quickly based on traffic patterns and business need without being limited by hardware selection.
• Access.  Leverage open-source software products and the independent software development community for further flexibility in network design and operation.

NFV becomes the method-of-choice as organizations continue to move towards high-volume, large bandwidth data traffic management needs such as video, SD-WAN, IoT, and 5G.

While SDN opens up traffic management opportunities, and NFV further improves options at the equipment level, you still need a technology to pull all this together.

That’s where SD-WAN comes in.

A Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) is a virtual WAN architecture that allows enterprises to leverage any combination of transport services (MPSL, Broadband, LTE, 5G) to connect users, data centers and cloud-based apps.

While traditional WANs shuttle all traffic back and forth between branch offices and the headquarters hub, the SD-WAN supports data center hosted, on-premises applications, cloud-based apps, data storage solutions, SaaS services (Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Dropbox), and mobile device connectivity.

It does this by separating out the control plane from the data plane.  The software controls connectivity, management and services between data centers, branch offices and the cloud.  SD-WAN deployments often include a mixture of legacy routers, switches, and virtualized customer premises equipment (vCPE) all controlled by software that dictates policy, security, networking functions, and various other tools based on the configuration.

The strength of the SD-WAN is its ability to juggle multiple connection options from MPLS to broadband internet to LTE and ultimately 5G.  Additionally it can isolate and secure traffic types differently based on business requirements.

Big companies benefit from SD-WAN because they can quickly bring up new branch office connections, handle the varied data types (video, voice ,data) they are increasingly challenged with, and keep costs down, all at the same time.

In Summary.

Ever-increasing reliance on technology advancements to stay competitive in today’s global economy means networks have to keep up.  That shows up as companies leverage cloud-based apps and SaaS subscriptions and start to tie in mobility requirements (5G) as well.  Networks managers require network tools that keep up with these changes and allow for real-time adjustments without expensive rollouts and inflexible data management and routing support systems.

The Hybrid WAN is that solution.  And leveraging SDN, NFV and SD-WAN to do the job is the current method of choice by forward-thinking organizations.

China Telecom Americas’ unique and cost-effective IT infrastructure management and MPLS + SD-WAN hybrid solution helps global organizations achieve high quality application performance that improves end-user experience, while helping them build and expand their operations simply and effectively.

5G technology has arrived in force in China, and this technological advancement offers numerous benefits and advantages for today’s companies. Among other things, 5G provides faster network speeds for streaming media, and allows for the Internet of Things (IoT) devices at the network edge. When combined with open source technologies, 5G is powerful, productive, and transformational.

China Telecom’s commitment to realizing the promise of open source technologies in the 5G era

As the world’s 10th largest telecommunications company, China Telecom Corporation (or CT) is committed to realizing the promise of open source technologies in the 5G era. It’s invested heavily in 5G networks and related R&D that include a number of open source contributions.  As a result in 2020, the company was able to offer its nearly 90M 5G subscribers access to 300,000 5G base stations in China — five times the number it featured at the end of 2019.  China Telecom also tallied 238M IoT devices on its network — a 50% increase over 2019.

China Telecom began highlighting its commitment to open source in its CTNet2025 white paper in 2016, discussing transformation and “cloudification” of the company’s networks using open source technologies as necessary to support the growing demand in bandwidth and compute resources at the network edge. By combining innovative, cloud-centric SDN and NFV open source technologies with the power of 5G, China Telecom views virtualization and automation as keys to more efficient allocation of network resources from core to edge as IoT, AR/VR, real-time critical compute applications and devices proliferate in China.

China Telecom’s open source contributions in the 5G Era

The following white paper updates readers on some of China Telecom’s open source contributions in the 5G Era and what’s happening with various initiatives:

• CT is committed to pursuing open-source innovations to increase value for its customers. These advancements will enable it to develop customized products and services flexibly and quickly, reduce software development threshold and risk, and improve reliability, security, performance and quality of digital experiences.
• CT actively participates and contributes to several open-source organizations and projects. These include 3GPP, 5GAA, IMT2020 5G promotion group, LF Networking (Linux Foundation), and ONAP.
• CT has also launched new open source projects in a wide range of industries, with critical pilot deployments in smart factories, manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, and education.

Download the Report

China Telecom recently unveiled its new state-of-the-art Sichuan Data Center facility in the Yibin Lingang Economic and Technological Development Zone situated to serve both the growing Chengdu and Chongqing metro areas. With a total service capacity of 10,000 cabinets, the data center offers numerous benefits, including cloud and carrier interconnectivity, extensive security, proximity to two Tier-1 cities, and cost-effective footprint scalability from individual rack units (RUs) to full cages.

South Sichuan data center features

The South Sichuan data center features a carrier-neutral fast Internet with 3C, an intelligent management system, a dual redundant backup system, and abundant power resources at low operating costs. Plus, the data center complies with the China GB50174-2018 Class A construction standards and conforms to the international Tier 3+ standards for data centers.

The South Sichuan data center also features a state-of-the-art security system that includes micro shield access control systems at the main exits in the data hall and a remote system that monitors the identity of personnel. The data center also has video monitoring cameras and an access control system that can set access permissions for different personnel. Meanwhile, the data center’s dynamic detection video provides 24/7 hours of real-time monitoring and saves more than three months of video data.

Some additional features and benefits of China Telecom’s new South Sichuan data center include:

• Total broadband capacity of 5T-10T, 1T bandwidth support for the telecom backbone network.
• Energy-saving and environmental protection technology to create a “green & low carbon” data center with cold aisle enclosed technology
• Multiple power guarantees, including power supply for critical equipment adopts a 2N+ backup power supply system
• UPS system that adopts 2N configuration, a total of 24 600KVA UPS and four 200KVA UPS, while the backup battery for the UPS system supplies power continuously for more than 30 minutes.
• IG541 gas fire-fighting and pre-installed Heptafluoropropane fire-extinguishing system. Complies with the “Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings” (GB50016-2006 and later versions)
• Chilled water precision air conditioner that ensures the computer room stays at a constant temperature of 18-27 degrees Celsius and helps meet 30% to 70% constant humidity environment requirements
• Air-conditioning terminal equipment using UPS plus main dual-circuit power supply, for a total of 1 400KVA UPS and three 200KVA UPSs.

If you’re looking for a robust and modern data center to support your company’s expansion into Chengdu and Chongqing, CTA’s South Sichuan Data Center in Yibin provides the strategic geographic location, back-up redundancy, security, and interconnectivity, all at a reasonable price. To get complete facility specs and pricing, please click here to contact China Telecom Americas’ data center solutions team today.

Edge computing is gaining unprecedented attention

Edge computing is gaining unprecedented attention as the industry moves into the 5G era, and nowhere is that more apparent than with the gaming industry in China. The market boasts nearly 665 million players who spend over 278 billion yuan on video games, making it the world’s most lucrative gaming market, according to a recent report from Statista. More than 75 percent of the total gaming market share came from mobile gamers, the report states. Using cloud gaming platforms, users can stream their favorite games rather than downloading them on smartphones or gaming consoles or buying physical copies.

This, of course, means the user experience must be stellar and the technology behind it resilient and reliable. Games can’t successfully be played in real-time if the network is slow or the signal is dropped; this will lead to lagging images or out of sync operation, which will then lead to loss of revenue if users drop off the game due to poor quality. Several technologies must come together for high-quality gaming to be achieved at scale, and China Telecom Americas is well-positioned to deliver Quality of Experience across the entire gaming experience by utilizing them. These technologies include:

• The speed and high-bandwidth capabilities of 5G and its network slicing capabilities— According to a recent report by the GSMA, China is expected to have 822 million 5G subscribers by 2025, up from 202 million subscribers at the end of last year 2020. The report also estimates that 5G connections by 2025 will represent 47% of total mobile connections in China. Based on network slicing, 5G resources can be allocated for specific services to ensure the quality of the cloud game experience is high, especially when users simultaneously play games in the cloud.
• Virtualization at the network edge for load-balancing capabilities—Each edge data center should have multiple application instances running, with traffic to them managed by load balancers that ensure the load is spread out so servers do not become overloaded.
• Core network support for failover via the most robust hardware infrastructure in the core and access networks. China Telecom Americas has the bandwidth and density in its core and access networks to meet the challenges games create on its network
• The growth of edge computing via edge data centers—As services move to the edge, it makes sense that computing must converge on the edge as well. Enter Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC), an edge cloud platform that provides a new network architecture together with the operator network, with the data plane function as a key focus. MEC uses the mobile access network to provide IT services and cloud computing functions for users near the edge. This creates a carrier-class service environment with high performance, low latency and high bandwidth, and provides a high Quality of Experience for the end user.

To provide customers with the low latency required by the next generation of gaming and other apps, China Telecom Americas is deploying MEC at the edge of its network globally. This will allow gamers to leverage the network like never before, while leaving plenty of network bandwidth for other applications, both consumer and enterprise.

According to the GSMA, “the move of part of the computing power from the cloud to the edge could to a large extent be seen as an operator-centric technology shift, which builds on previous developments such as the softwarization and virtualization of networks and plays into 5G deployments.” In other words, operators now have the ability to move beyond being an access pipe provider to become an information service enabler, deploying new services like gaming with Quality of Experience. China Telecom Americas is well down this path with its 5G and MEC capabilities, paired with the world-class fixed line network that 5G requires.

For more information on how China Telecom Americas is improving the user experience for gamers in China and other applications, visit our Content Delivery page.

Learn more about how China’s Telecom Americas is participating in a 5G network slicing trial in China as part of its 5G initiatives.

Connectivity vs. Cost

As companies scale to multiple locations in China, they run into an age-old problem in regards to their wans: Connectivity vs. Cost. Connectivity means utilizing the stability of MPLS circuits, which provide the reliability and scalability many companies need to grow their operations. Benefitting from cost means understanding the difference between the true cost of an MPLS circuit and that of a typical broadband connection, as well as the opportunity cost lost when mission-critical traffic goes across the public internet instead of the MPLS circuit.

Many companies in China are looking to China Telecom Americas to help them deploy a SD-WAN architecture

To gain better performance, control and visibility over their network and data, many companies in China are looking to China Telecom Americas to help them deploy a SD-WAN architecture atop their MPLS cloud. By separating the data plane from the control plane, traffic can be managed as needed to achieve the right outcome. For enterprise-critical traffic, that might be over the MPLS network, while “everyday” traffic runs over the internet. And if something goes wrong and the primary path is not available (as often might be the case in congested public networks, like those found in highly populated regions like China), the SD-WAN can reroute traffic over a different path. Most China Telecom Americas customers find their OPEX savings from deploying hybrid SD-WAN exceeds their CAPEX expenditures through simplified configuration and link provisioning.

That’s not to say MPLS is unimportant. Companies need MPLS for cross-border connectivity, backhaul and getting across the national gateway. The quality of service (QoS) of MPLS circuits is unmatched, and even those who decide to overhaul their networks need to ensure that MPLS is still included in their plans to protect the quality of network traffic.

There’s plenty of interest in deploying a hybrid network with SD-WAN, even after a down year where businesses sat and waited for a rebound during the COVID-19 pandemic. In February, Dell’Oro Group forecast that the worldwide sales of SD-WAN technologies would grow at a CAGR of 24 percent over the next five years. The SD-WAN market is expected to surpass $4 billion by 2025, Dell’Oro says, and software will drive 80 percent of revenue, accelerating during the period between 2021 and 2025.

Benefits of China Telecom Americas’ unique and cost-effective IT infrastructure management and MPLS + SD-WAN hybrid solution

China Telecom Americas’ unique and cost-effective IT infrastructure management and MPLS + SD-WAN hybrid solution resources allow us to provide our customers high quality application performance to improve end-user experience, while helping them build and expand their operations simply and effectively. Multi-tenant isolation, integrated security functions, and traffic control in regional security centers ensure the security of customers’ traffic.  A few of the benefits we provide customers include:

• Reduced IT complexity—Reduce WAN complexity with improved maintenance and administration features.
• Flexible, one-stop SD-WAN solution—Includes cloud access, management portal, managed services, underlay service and more.
• Increased agility and reliability—Delivers greater business agility and reliability through application-level visibility, control and an integrated set of security functions.
• Better visibility and automation—Optimizes cloud and on-premises application performance with real-time analytics, visibility, and control.
• Optimized bandwidth utilization and performance—Adapt in real time to bandwidth demands and network conditions.
• Reduced CAPEX and OPEX costs—Simple and flexible price model, plus lowered OPEX with simplified configuration and link provisioning
• Increased branch availability time—Quickly establish an SD-WAN overlay over a MPLS/IP underlay that connects all your branch locations to improve network speed, security, and efficiency.
• Stronger security—Multi-tenant isolation, integrated security functions, traffic control in regional security centers.
• World-class customer support—Full MPLS / Hybrid WAN Integration Support plus 24×7 global post-sale service

We partner with the industry’s best technology vendors to create leading-edge MPLS + SD-WAN hybrid solutions for your business. One of those partnerships is with Cisco-Viptela for Hybrid SD-WAN. Learn more about our solutions and partnership here.