Saudi Telecom Company (stc) and Huawei signed a Memorandum of Understanding towards the F5.5G era to build an all-optical strategic partnership

[Barcelona, Spain, March 3, 2023] During the MWC2023, Saudi Telecom Company (stc) and Huawei signed a Memorandum of Understanding towards the F5.5G era to build an all-optical strategic partnership, which includes consensus and product and solution cooperation under the F5G and F5.5G industry standards. The MOU aims to accelerate the implementation of stc’s digital transformation strategy by building an all-optical network that meets the requirements of ultra-large bandwidth, ultra-high speed, premium experience and network autonomous driving.

In September 2022, ETSI released the Fixed 5th Generation Advanced and Beyond white paper, defined the core capabilities of F5.5G. The F5.5G era brought four major changes

• User experience reaches 10Gbps: F5.5G introduces next-generation technologies such as FTTR, Wi-Fi 7, 50G PON, 800G, etc., to achieve 10Gbps everywhere;
• Service boundaries are beyond connections: optical fiber sensing technology is applied to scenarios such as fire and earthquake early warning, gas detection, water quality detection, etc.;
• Network assurance: upgraded from telecom grade to industrial grade, and industrial digital upgrade is accelerated;
• Network is more environmentally friendly: optical fiber transmission technology can reduce energy consumption by 90% compared with EXC, and full-optical access technology can reduce energy consumption by 80% compared with copper.

stc and Huawei will strengthen the cooperation in future in areas such as technology research, technology testing, commercial deployment and publicity, including 50G PON, FTTR, 400G/800G and ultra-high speed 1.2Tbps WDM, OXC, Alps-WDM, and form a joint team to innovate in the F5.5G field. It will fully support stc’s fixed network construction.

At the same time, stc expressed its willingness to join ETSI/WBBA and other standards or industry organizations to provide value cases, technologies and architectures for F5.5G standards, and enhance its industry influence.

stc Infrastructure Design GM Hisham A.Alabdaly said: “with the signing of the F5.5 MOU, stc will better promote end-to-end innovation and commercialization of fixed networks and maintain a leading position in the fixed network industry.”

Richard Jin, President of Huawei’s Optical Business Product Line, said, “Huawei will work with stc to continuously make technological breakthroughs and product innovations on the road to F5.5G development, help stc network continuously improve user experience and network operation efficiency, create greater business value, and support Saudi vision 2030.”