ZTE Corporation, a publicly listed global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions signed an agreement on 20 September 2011 with Burundi Backbone Systems Company (Burundi BBS) to build Burundi’s first national backbone network.
According to Total Telecom, the deal comes as a result of rapid growth in mobile and data service needs in Burundi.
The ZTE network will cover 17 provinces and cities in Burundi, dramatically reducing broadband costs and laying the foundation for further improvements. It will also link Burundi with eastern and central African countries such as Tanzania, Rwanda, and Congo, connecting it to The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy).
Burundi BBS is a joint venture between five local telecommunication operators and is partially funded by the World Bank.
“This year, ZTE established a strategic objective to change bearer network patterns,” said ZTE Bearer Network Product Line General Manager Fan Xiaobing.
“The development of the backbone network in cooperation with Burundi BBS will help achieve that objective, while also improving the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure.”
As part of the project, ZTE will provide ZXR10 M6000 super-high-performance multi-service routers and multi-service access products such as the S385 and S325 to Burundi BBS. The ZXR10 M6000 slot supports 40G switching capability and provides upgrade capability to 100G.
The S385 supports multi-service access and provides an upgrade from 2.5G to 10G, greatly reducing initial network construction costs. ZTE has shipped several thousand T8000/M6000 units based on the T8000 platform across China, Asia-Pacific, Southeast Asia and MEA in the first half of 2011. The units are in use by operators in China, such as China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom; and by other operators across those regions.
Staff Writer
