Surge in Computing Power Demand Makes G.654.E Optical Fiber the "Golden Channel" for Network Capacity

According to the People's Posts and Telecommunications News, on October 17th, China Telecom's 2025-2026 national-level trunk optical cable and closure centralized procurement project, Lot 01 for trunk optical cables, was announced. Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company (YOFC) won the bid with the largest share. This trunk optical cable procurement involves approximately 2.24 million fiber-km of G.654.E fiber. This marks China Telecom's first trunk optical cable tender conducted in a framework format and is the third trunk optical cable centralized procurement by a domestic operator this year. With the full advancement of the national "East Data West Computing" project, the three major operators, represented by China Telecom, are further intensifying the construction of trunk networks, leading to an explosive surge in demand for G.654.E fiber.

It is reported that the construction of China Telecom's backbone optical cable network has been fully accelerated. The 2.24 million fiber-km of G.654.E optical cable procured in this national-level trunk tender can only meet the project demand for just over half a year. It is estimated that China Telecom will initiate a new phase of trunk cable centralized procurement around mid-2026 or the second half of the year, with an even larger scale. China Mobile and China Unicom have also entered a peak phase of G.654.E trunk network construction.

Amid the global wave of AI today, G.654.E optical fiber has become a key cornerstone supporting computing power networks. From the macro strategy of "East Data West Computing" to the precise deployment of metropolitan "millisecond-level computing access," this new type of optical fiber—featuring ultra-low loss, ultra-large capacity, and ultra-low latency—is becoming the "golden channel" vitalizing Digital China.