China Telecom is throwing its weight behind Alcatel-Lucent, as part of an effort to pass 100 million homes with fiber by 2015.
The operator has signed a €100 million deal with Alca-Lu covering fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network deployment in all 31 Chinese provinces, as it seeks to connect 30 million subscribers to high-speed broadband within the next three years. The deal builds on a similar agreement signed in July 2011, covering fiber rollout in rural areas.
Alca-Lu's local Shanghai Bell subsidiary will deploy the infrastructure firm's GPON and EPON-compliant fiber network kit for China Telecom.
Rajeev Singh-Molares, president of Alcatel-Lucent Asia-Pacific, says the deal highlights the firm's strength in FTTH and the "rapid expansion of broadband in China."