China Unicom to deploy Nokia metro core routers in 10 provinces

Nokia says it has reached a three-year extension of its exclusive partnership with China Unicom to supply the company's 7950 Extensible Routing System (XRS). The extension includes an increase in the number of provinces in which China Unicom will deploy the metro core router.

China Unicom initially deployed the 7950 XRS in six provinces: Beijing, Shandong, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Inner Mongolia, and Qinghai (see "Alcatel-Lucent lands core router deals with China Mobile, China Unicom"). The present deal will see the service provider leverage the metro core router in Heilongjiang, Henan, Zhejiang, and Hunan as well.

The routers enable China Unicom to improve service speed and response times for both fixed and mobile broadband subscribers, Nokia says.

The deployments are part of the country's Broadband China initiative, launched in 2013 to invest $182 billion to improve China's internet services. The initiative seeks to provide businesses and urban and rural citizens with national broadband coverage by 2020. China Unicom and other service providers have spent significant sums to upgrade their networks accordingly (see, for example, "Nokia receives another Broadband China contract from China Mobile").

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