wiredinUSA December 2011

INDEX

South Korean power plans

Plans for large-scale fiber access network Alcatel-Lucent and China Unicom have announced plans to launch one of China’s largest fiber broadband access networks to date. Alcatel-Lucent has been selected as the major supplier for China Unicom’s expansion of its broadband access network based on GPON technology in 29 provinces to satisfy growing demand for capacity- intensive applications such as interactive TV, video-on-demand services, gaming, social networking and more. An extensive effort is taking place across China to expand the reach of fiber-optic networks to provide superfast Internet to millions of households. Alcatel-Lucent is deploying its Gigabit Passive Optical Networking (GPON) platform to ensure China Unicom’s network will be capable of boosting speed and capacity as subscriber demand increases. China Unicom’s project will be the largest deployment of GPON technology to date. Rajeev Singh-Molares, Asia-Pacific president at Alcatel-Lucent, said: “This project represents another major milestone in the rapid expansion of broadband in China. It also demonstrates our strong and growing leadership position in the FTTx market as we help accelerate availability of superfast broadband throughout China.”

The Ministry of Knowledge Economy of the South Korean government has revealed revised plans for its $9 billion offshore wind power project. The aim now is to develop a 100MW test project in 2014, a 400MW project in 2016, with a final 2GW project by 2019. The government said Korea Electric Power Corp will be leading the development of the projects. Eight suppliers will be involved, including Doosan Heavy Industries, Hyundai, and Daewoo. Only Doosan has an offshore turbine, which is yet to be deployed in the water, but Daewoo has expressed South Korea does not have any offshore wind farms, although Doosan is currently supplying a 60MW project off Jeju island, in the south of the country, which is expected to be online by June 2014. Experts estimate that the country has the potential to generate as much as 15.48GW through offshore wind. an interest in acquiring Bard, the German offshore turbine manufacturer and developer.

ASIA / AFRICA NEWS

wiredInUSA - December 2011

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