China Telecom will utilize optical and data solutions from Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT) to expand its networks across Southern and Eastern China.

The additional network capacity will enable China Telecom to offer advanced IP (Internet Protocol) data services. China Telecom will deploy Nortel Networks Optical Long Haul 1600 Optical Line Systems to expand its optical backbone networks in the cities of Wuhan, Guangzhou, Changsha, Fuzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Hefei, Chongqing, and Chengdu. The expansion, scheduled for completion by the end of 2004, will boost transmission capacity to approximately 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) x 30 wavelengths.

In addition, China Telecom's Shanghai Telecom and Zhejiang Telecom branches will use Nortel Networks Services Edge Router (SER) 5500 to expand their data networks. The expansions will enable the two branches to serve an additional 500,000 and 1.8 million broadband subscribers, respectively, with delivery of such IP broadband services as high-speed Internet access, IP virtual private networks (VPNs) and 'Green Internet,' a special content filtering and blocking service for parents to monitor children's activities on the Internet.

Optical Long Haul 1600 is a 10 Gbps platform that uses DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplexing) to split light into as many as 160 channels to maximize capacity on each fiber. This enables up to 28 million simultaneous Internet connections on a single strand of fiber, and increases by 640 times the Internet's backbone speed and capacity to carry data, video and voice services.

Nortel Networks Services Edge Router 5500 (formerly known as Shasta 5000 Broadband Service Node) enables service providers to transition from the simple connectivity model enabled by first generation subscriber management systems to a cost-effective, network-based, value-added broadband services model.