On April 20, 2025, China launched the world’s first 10G broadband network in Sunan County, Hebei Province. The “G” in this context refers to gigabits, not generation. This is the first commercial wired broadband network globally to offer speeds up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps).

Unlike wireless networks like 5G or 6G, this network utilizes advanced fiber-optic technology known as 50G Passive Optical Network (50G-PON). Huawei and China Unicom jointly launched this network.

Key Features:

• Speed: The network provides a download speed of 9,834 Mbps and an upload speed of 1,008 Mbps, with a latency of just 3 milliseconds. To put this in perspective, downloading a 20 GB 4K movie typically takes 7-10 minutes on a 1 Gbps connection, but with the 10G network, it will take just 20 seconds.

• Applications: The 10G network is designed to support data-intensive, low-latency applications such as seamless cloud gaming, remote surgery, AI-driven smart homes, smart cities, telemedicine, remote education, and smart agriculture. It can also process real-time data for autonomous driving systems.

• Global Impact: With this launch, China has surpassed countries like the UAE and Qatar in broadband speed. For comparison, the average broadband speed in the UAE is around 543 Mbps, while in Qatar, it’s 521 Mbps.

• Comparison with India: India’s broadband infrastructure relies on technologies such as fiber-optic (FTTH), DSL, cable, and 5G fixed wireless access (FWA), with the fastest real-world download speed in Delhi reaching around 77.2 Mbps. In contrast, China’s 10G network is 100 times faster than India’s average broadband speed of 77.2 Mbps.

This launch is part of China’s broader national strategy, with plans to expand the network to 168 locations.