Proximus and Huawei will bring 5G connectivity to two universities in Brussels, as the companies trialled 1Tbps transmission technology in France.
Following the signing of an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in China, the Belgian operator will work with the China-based vendor to develop new facilities for the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
For example, the companies will provide ICT infrastructure and “next-generation” wireless technology, including 5G connectivity, for the Learning and Innovation Centre, a joint initiative by the universities.
The concept aims to “extend the traditional library concept by integrating the newest information and communication technologies”, Proximus said.
The operator will install an ”Innovation Lounge” within the centre where students can study new technologies.
The project will also see Proximus providing ICT infrastructure, equipment and connectivity for a “campus of the future” concept, which will house Science and Engineering faculties for both VUB and ULB.
It follows the launch of Huawei’s European Research Centre in the country in May.
Meanwhile in France, the two companies registered speeds of up to 1Tbps after trialling a new optical transport network (OTN) technology from Huawei.
The test was carried out using Huawei’s 1Tbps OTN line card and the vendor’s Optical Switch Node platform.
Using the vendor’s technology, the companies were able to increase the capacity of Proximus’ 200Gbps fibre backbone to 400Gbps by compressing the gaps between transmission channels.
According to Huawei, this technique increases the density of the transmission channels on fibre and improves efficiency by up to 150 percent.
The successful trial paves the way for 1Tbps “super channels” in future, Huawei claimed.
Geert Standaert, Chief Technology Officer at Proximus, said: “At Proximus we pledge to satisfy the evolving customers demand by investing in new technologies to offer them the best quality and service.
“Together with Huawei we want to let our network infrastructure evolve to support current and future bandwidth demands and offer our customers an outstanding user experience.”