World’s first 10G network, launched by China: “G” is for “Gigabit”, not “Generation”; here’s why that’s important

In summary, this 10G network that China has pioneered is not like the wireless 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G networks that you use on your phone. The “10G” refers to 10 Gigabits speed and it is delivered via a cable network using fibre optics.

Let me rephrase that: this is a fixed broadband network technology using fibre optics cables and the “10G” in this context refers to the speed of 10 Gigabits per second, not the tenth generation of mobile internet (like 5G, 4G, 3G, and 2G).

It is important to make this distinction, as many non-techies are droning on about how China has left everybody else in the world using 5G, jumped over 6G, 7G, 8G, and 9G, to launch a 10G wireless network. No; this is not a wireless network, but a wired/cable network. And the 10 Gigabit fibre optics networks are being tested in other countries around the world as well. Indeed, it is an achievement that China has launched the world’s first 10 Gigabit fibre optics network, but China is not far ahead of the world (I provide proof further down in this article).

For many years, cable networks have been delivering much faster speeds than wireless networks. Cable networks also provide better stability than wireless networks. This is true the world over – in the US, Canada, UK, EU, China, India, Australia, and even here in Nigeria. If interested, have a look at cable internet services in Nigeria.

China’s new 10G network is based on a new type of cable network that has been in development for some years now. As a matter of fact, Nokia, in partnership with Frontier, has been testing the same underlying infrastructure in the US for about a year now (see this YouTube video) – and have demonstrated not just 10G, but also 25G, 50G and 100G speeds. Again, keep in mind that the ‘G’ here is Gigabits speed of fibre optics networks, not Generation of wireless mobile networks.

China’s newly launched 10G network, which was officially rolled out last week, is based on 50G Passive Optical Network (PON) technology. This next-generation technology significantly enhances data transmission capabilities over existing fiber-optic infrastructure. It allows for much higher speeds and lower latency compared to previous generations of PON technology.

The 10G network in China was developed through a collaboration between Huawei and China Unicom, with its first commercial rollout in Sunan County, Hebei Province, and Xiong’an New Area.

Lets’ look at some key aspects of China’s new 10G network and its underlying technology:

• 50G PON Technology: This is the fundamental technology enabling the ultra-fast speeds. It’s the next evolution of Fiber to the X (FTTx) technology.
• Ultra-fast speeds: The network boasts maximum download speeds of up to 9,834 Mbps (nearly 10 Gbps) and upload speeds around 1,008 Mbps.
• Low Latency: It features an extremely low latency of approximately 3 milliseconds.
• Enhanced Data Transmission: 50G PON allows for the transmission of significantly larger volumes of data.
• Infrastructure Efficiency: This technology can deliver higher internet speeds without requiring major upgrades or replacement of existing fiber-optic cables.

Benefits and Applications of 10G networks

• 8K ultra-high-definition video streaming
• Immersive virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) experiences
• High-volume cloud computing
• Intelligent smart home ecosystems
• Telemedicine
• Remote education
• Technology-based agriculture
• Industrial automation

To reiterate the key message of this article, this first “10G network” launched by China refers to the speed of 10 Gigabits per second and not the tenth generation of mobile internet (like 5G, 4G, 3G, and 2G). This is a fixed broadband network technology utilizing fibre optics. Also, bear in mind that some wired/cable networks use copper cables instead of fibre optics.

As such, mobile phones cannot connect to this ’10G network’; at least, not directly. But like all other types of cable Internet services, phones, tablets, laptops and other Wi-Fi-enabled devices and gadgets can connect to it indirectly via a Wi-Fi hotspot connected to thee network. I hope this explainer article has helped you understand how this ’10G network’ works, so you don’t come to wrong conclusions and then develop unrealistic expectations.

If you have any questions about aspects of the technology that I didn’t address in this article, leave me a comment below.