The First Commercial 10G Network in the World Officially Launched in China

China officially launched its first commercial 10G optical network this week in the futuristic city of Xiong’an, located about a hundred kilometers southwest of Beijing. This technological milestone was jointly achieved by the tech giant Huawei and the state telecommunications operator China Unicom, utilizing the new 50G-PON passive optical technology that enables download speeds of up to 9,834 Mb/s, upload speeds of up to 1,008 Mb/s, and latency of around three milliseconds in real-world conditions. According to Huawei, this technology represents a ‘quantum leap’ from gigabit networks and lays the foundation for the upcoming era of smart cities, reports Interesting Engineering.

However, this system is not just an indicator of impressive speed – it is designed as an infrastructure that will support future digital services requiring extremely high bandwidth and minimal latency. Xiong’an is envisioned as a technologically advanced and environmentally sustainable city, facilitating the development and testing of innovative solutions – from smart homes and virtual reality to networks of autonomous vehicles and real-time urban infrastructure management.

Theoretically, 10G speeds allow for the download of a 4 GB 8K movie in just four seconds, while cloud gaming, virtual and augmented reality, and holographic conferences can occur without delay. However, engineers warn that this advancement is also crucial for ‘industrial’ applications – from traffic management to remote medical interventions. Representatives from Huawei emphasize that such networks will be the foundation of a digital economy based on cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

In a global context, China further solidifies its position as a leader in digital infrastructure with this move. While most of the world is still expanding 5G networks – with average theoretical speeds in Europe around 428 Mb/s, and in Croatia around 73 Mb/s – Xiong’an can already boast speeds that are dozens of times faster. For comparison, the 10G network in Xiong’an is more than 100 times faster than the average Croatian home internet.