World's first 1.2TB ultra-high-speed backbone network opens in China

The world's first 1.2Tb/s capacity ultra-high-speed backbone network connecting Beijing, Wuhan, and Guangzhou was inaugurated at Tsinghua University on Monday. This next-generation ultra-high-speed network signifies a milestone in China’s Internet infrastructure development.

The 3,000-kilometer-long backbone network is the world’s first 1.2Tb/s capacity backbone network in use, as a crucial part of China’s Future Internet Technology Infrastructure (FITI) project. The backbone network has achieved complete domestic production, according to Xinhuanet.

The network underwent trial operation on July 31, 2023. It has been operating smoothly and reliably since then, and pilot tests have shown that the channel meets design standards.

At present, a 400Gb/s capacity backbone network has just been put into commercial use. The establishment of a 1.2Tb/s capacity ultra-high-speed backbone network means that China’s major backbone network technology has reached a T-bit level. Wu Jianping, chairman of the Institute for Network Sciences and Cyberspace at Tsinghua University, made this announcement on Monday, citing a report from Xinhuanet.

The technology was jointly developed by Tsinghua University, China Mobile Communications Corporation, Huawei, and Cernet, with the aim of providing high-speed Internet access in China.

Given that China has the world’s largest Internet user group, generating significant demand for high-speed and stable Internet, this development is crucial. As of June 2023, the total number of internet users in China had reached 1.079 billion, according to a report from the China Internet Network Information Center.

Additionally, China continues to expand its network infrastructure. As of September, China had constructed a total of 3.19 million 5G base stations, forming the world's largest network infrastructure.