Optical Network Alliance established to promote industry prosperity through cross-domain cooperation

The All-Optical Campus Industry Summit in Beijing focusing on the theme "World of Optical Connectivity, Future of Smart Convergence" has announced the launch of the Optical Network Alliance (ONA).

Founding members of the organization include: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Nokia Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd., Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company, Digital China Group Co., Ltd., and China Overseas Property Holdings Limited. The summit officially announced the Alliance's constitution and organizational structure, appointed the director-general, deputy-director, expert committee, and secretary-general of the Alliance, and determined the objectives and work plans of the Alliance. Huawei was appointed the first director-general unit of the Alliance.

The need for the new alliance was driven by emerging technologies and new applications such as 5G, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Big Data, enterprises' digital transformation is accelerating. Compared with traditional networks, the next-generation all-optical network has the following advantages: multi-service integrated transport, energy conservation, cost-effectiveness, flexibility, security, and reliability. It can meet the requirements for the high bandwidth and low latency of emerging services such as ultra-HD video, i-VR/AR, cloud service, mobile office, and 5G collaboration in the Internet of Everything (IoE) cloud era.

The next-generation all-optical network is widely used in scenarios such as education, safe city, office, hotel, and transportation. To popularize optical fiber networks in enterprises and meet the requirements of enterprises in different scenarios, the all-optical network construction faces huge challenges. The ONA’s aims to help meet those growing demands. As an international communication and cooperation platform, the Alliance aims to gather all the parties in the industry, establish and promote industry standards, explore new models and mechanisms, promote in-depth collaboration between technologies and industry development, build an ecosystem, cultivate industry talents, and achieve long-term and healthy development of the all-optical network industry.

The conference announced the Alliance's constitution, organizational structure, responsibilities, work objectives, and short-term plans. In addition to Huawei being named as the Alliance’s first director-general unit, Nokia Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd., Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company, Digital China Group Co., Ltd., and China Overseas Property Holdings Limited were appointed the deputy-director units. Mr. Chen Zeyu, Vice President of Huawei Enterprise Transmission & Access domain, was appointed the Director-General of the ONA. The Alliance established a Commission of Experts and a Secretariat to provide consultant support and operation management. In addition, it set up four work groups: a requirement technology team, an engineering technology standards team, a marketing cooperation team, and an industry promotion team. They are individually responsible for promoting industry standards and technology cooperation, expanding Alliance partners, and building a talent cultivation and certification platform.

Experts from the CEESTA and Alliance founding members, including Huawei, Nokia, YOFC, Digital China, and China Overseas Property Holdings, discussed the trends and development prospects of the all-optical network industry, shared the all-optical campus solution, key industry cases, engineering technology implementation standards, industry expansion experience, and practices in scenarios such as smart buildings. The group also explored how to solve industry's weaknesses in key technologies, standards, business, and ecosystem during the application and promotion of all-optical networks in the industry to accelerate large-scale development of the industry.

Mr. Jin Zhiguo, President of Huawei Enterprise Transmission & Access domain, said: "With the popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the commercial deployment of 5G around the world, green all-optical networks will develop rapidly as transport networks. Everyone will have a role in the development of the all-optical industry. Huawei is glad to join hands with the Alliance members to share new ideas during exchanges, to exhibit Huawei's experience in the optical field, seize historic opportunities, and lead the prosperity and development of the all-optical network industry."