ZTE Overtakes AlcaLu in Broadband Battle

Following a year of major fiber access deployments in China, ZTE Corp. (Shenzhen: 000063; Hong Kong: 0763) claims to have replaced Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) as the global No. 2 fixed broadband infrastructure vendor, trailing only domestic rival Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in terms of worldwide revenues.

Citing market research statistics from Ovum Ltd. , ZTE says it captured 16.5 percent of the global broadband gear market in 2009, compared with AlcaLu's 16.1 percent, and Huawei's 22.6 percent.

ZTE says 55 percent of its broadband fixed access revenues came from its domestic market, and the remaining 45 percent from international markets. (See China Telecom Backhauls With EPON and T Italia Builds Quake-Proof FTTx.)

The vendor's vice president of fixed networks, Zhu Ying, says FTTx investments are continuing in China as the country's three main carriers build out their fiber-based broadband networks. And as if to prove that point, ZTE today announced a passive optical network (PON) equipment deal with China Telecom Corp. Ltd. (NYSE: CHA) worth more than 1 billion Yuan Renminbi (US$146 million).

The vendor will provide its ZXA10 xPON platform to the carrier, which, as part of its City Optical Network project, is building out 20 million lines of fiber access broadband that covers rural as well as urban areas.

ZTE says it's also working with the carrier on its plans to deploy 10-Gbit/s PON infrastructure. The vendor says it already has some 10G EPON equipment deployed in China, and that it's on course to have its 10G GPON platform, based on Full Service Access Network (FSAN) specifications, commercially available in 2011. (See MSO Taps ZTE for 10G EPON Test and BBWF: ZTE Touts 10G EPON Trials.)

The Chinese vendor also updated on its deployment with Telekom Malaysia Berhad , where it is believed to be one of four vendors, alongside AlcaLu, Huawei, and FiberHome Technologies Group , supplying the carrier with broadband network equipment for its High Speed Broadband (HSBB) rollout that went live in late March. (See Telekom Malaysia Ramps Broadband and Telekom Malaysia Shows Off IPTV.)

There, ZTE is supplying its MSG5200, which provisions voice as well as broadband services. The multiservice gateway has been deployed in 400 locations, according to the Chinese vendor.

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