Ericsson has been given a contract from China Telecom to build its next-generation IP backbone network, known as ChinaNet Next Carrying Network (CN2).

The contract means Ericsson will provide total solutions for China Telecom's entire national core network of CN2 and the major part of its backbone network in southern and western China.

Ericsson will provide China Telecom with systems integration, supervision and support and training services, in partnership with Juniper Networks.

The completion of the contract will enable China Telecom to offer a wide range of advanced IP services including Virtual Private Networking, high-quality IP voice and video streaming.

The contracts starts in the first quarter of next year, and the CN2 network is expected to enter service by the end of the year.

(CRI.com December 13, 2004)