Telecom Italia with the technical assistance of ZTE has rebuilt fibre optic broadband network as part of the “L’Aquila Ultrabroadband Project” C.A.S.E. project (the acronym stands for Earthquake-Proof, Sustainable and Environmentally-Compatible homes).

183 buildings housing 4,600 homes on new plots have been provided broadband connections supporting speeds as high as 100 mbps.

The network set up is a combination of Fibre To The Building (FTTB) and Fibre To The Home (FTTH) architecture. ZTE supplied transmission equipment and network solutions from exchange to the building and within buildings (GPON and VDSL2), using high-density, low-energy line cards.

Oscar Cicchetti, Head of Technology & Operations at Telecom Italia, says, “Telecom Italia has made a significant contribution to the whole earthquake relief effort, from handling the emergency to supporting people in the aftermath of the earthquake. As part of this commitment, the company was keen to build a modern fibre optic network for L’Aquila capable of delivering advanced telecommunications services. We are pleased with what we have achieved with ZTE, and with our joint commitment to build a major piece of infrastructure that should help the city back on track economically and materially.”

Fan Jiongyi, ZTE’s Country Manager for Italy, says, “ZTE is a leading optical network access product supplier with a great deal of expertise in PON technology applications. To date, ZTE has enabled more than 26 million lines with its xPON products, customized for carriers operating in regions ranging from China to Europe and the Middle East. ZTE has been working in partnership with Telecom Italia since early 2007. After three years of working together and rigorous equipment testing, we are proud to announce the rollout of one of Italy’s first FTTB networks.”