Data centre connect network links Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town
MTN South Africa has completed the upgrade of its domestic backbone to 800G with vendor Huawei. The links were set up with single fibre capacity of 48Tbps, to connect data centres in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
The operator has utilized Huawei’s optical transport solutions, including its 400G/800G per channel, Optical Cross-Connect (OXC), and Automatically Switched Optical Network (ASON). The OXC solution has been deployed in the backbone nodes, not only to meet long-term capacity and degree-expansion requirements, but also improve the network energy efficiency by reducing power consumption by up to 60% compared to conventional ROADM technology, according to Huawei.
“The 800G, OXC and ASON scale deployment with Huawei is a result of MTN’s clear vision to lead the delivery of a bold new digital world to customers,” said MTN SA senior specialist in core fibre and transmission Takalani Ligudu. “MTN is proud on having one of the world’s advanced networks and using industry leading technologies to deliver superior network services for our customers across South Africa.”
“It is a great honour to work with MTN SA to bring the leading and green optical technologies into South Africa, building advanced optical network for digital development,” said Huawei president of optical transmission Victor Zhou.
MTN SA began working on upgrading its backbone network with Huawei around 2022. In that year the two completed the first commercial trial of single-wavelength 800G with Huawei in South Africa. That test applied Huawei’s OXC all-optical switching product after the two had already collaborated to jointly deploy single-wavelength 400G technology. Data centre interconnects, according to the partners, increase the optical direction of the core nodes, which increases O&M difficulties. This drove the solution towards the choice of deploying OXC.
On its Network Management System, MTN has applied Huawei’s NCE-T to boost management, control, and analysis capabilities on transport networks and provide differentiated services for various types of customers through visualised parameters like the latency and reliability maps.
Partnership powers on
The operator has had a long-term strategic relationship with the Chinese vendor which stretches beyond optical transport. Given South Africa’s unique power supply issues and subsequent load-shedding impacting every business and consumer customer in the nation, the two companies recently launched an advanced load-shedding solution, the Huawei Power-M which is designed to provide a space-efficient and digital backup power solution for SMEs.
Power-M is available online and through selected MTN Retail stores offers an all-in-one solution that negates the need for additional devices and can withstand even the most challenging grid conditions. SMEs have the option to enhance their power backup setup with solar panel add-ons, enabling them to harness renewable energy sources or add new batteries without sacrificing performance, providing scalability and long-term viability. Customers can choose to purchase the solution outright or opt for a rental option.
Featuring an all-in-one system with a silent inverter battery and a 10-year swap-out warranty, this solution guarantees a continuous power supply. The modular design allows easy expansion of battery capacity for future needs, addressing load-shedding concerns. Safety is ensured through a built-in suppression kit.