5G:Shanghai gets into the gigabit groove

Shanghai Telecom, a China Telecom Corp subsidiary, is leading the world by supporting 10Gbps (10G) throughout its citywide wireline broadband access network.

It announced on Wednesday that it had completed the first commercial fiber to the home (FTTH) network based on 10G PON across the entire city.

This means that China Telecom has deployed faster broadband speeds for residential buildings of up to 10 gigabit per second, while fiber users can have the option of up to 1 Gbps service for download.

"Becoming the first gigabit city demonstrates Shanghai's bid to implement the strategy of building China into a strong cyber power," said Ma Yimin, general manager of China Telecom Shanghai Branch.

"Life in Shanghai has become easier thanks to higher internet speed, smarter infrastructure and better accessibility to the world (through technologies)."

The three-year infrastructure upgrade cost more than 1 billion yuan ($144 million), the company said. The service has become available to nearly 20,000 neighborhoods, covering 10 million households in Shanghai.

The so-called gigabit connection is typically delivered over fiber optic lines and provides speeds of 1,000 Mbps, which is also referred to as "1 Gbps" or "Gigabit" internet.

"A gigabit connection means our customers have the bandwidth needed to be as connected, entertained and immersed as they could possibly want," said Chen Zhihong, the company's vice-general manager.

Much faster than today's average broadband connection, the gigabit connection can power a variety of services that meet the needs for bandwidth-hungry users, including multi-channel 4K video, smart home, online gaming and video streaming at the same time, among others, he noted.