ZTE wins Ethernet transport network to support Smart’s LTE rollout plans

China’s ZTE Corp has won a contract to supply an Ethernet transport network for Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company’s (PLDT’s) wholly owned mobile subsidiary Smart Communications. Under the deal the Chinese vendor will provide Smart, the country’s largest mobile carrier by subscribers, with a reliable and powerful bearer carrier Ethernet network (CEN) covering the entire country, as the cellco looks towards the future rollout of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology. Smart had 47.834 million 2G/3G subscribers at 30 June 2011 and plans to roll out a LTE network covering 95% of the population within three years. Under the tie-up with ZTE for its next generation IP transport products – ZXCTN 9008/9004 – Smart hopes to upgrade its core network to support 2G/3G/LTE in order to reduce the network’s construction and maintenance costs going forward.