Huawei Proposes Next Generation OTN for AIDC-Centric All-Optical Network

VIENNA, Oct. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- During NetworkX 2026, Huawei shared its vision for building the "LIGHTS" All-Optical Network at the Optical Transport Innovation Summit. Huawei outlined three waves of AI-driven opportunities for operators and explained how an AIDC-centric all-optical network, powered by Huawei's Next Generation OTN solution, enables them to drive business growth.

AI Drives Three Waves of Opportunities for Operators

The rapid evolution of AI unlocks three waves of opportunities for operators: DC interconnection for hyperscalers, private lines for enterprise computing power, and integrated computing and network services. This is reshaping optical transport: from a basic network serving consumer and home (ToC and ToH) users, to a business network serving enterprises (ToB) and AI; from administrative-division-based planning, to AIDC-centric planning.

NEXT GENERATION OTN Solution Enhances AIDC-Centric All-Optical Network

To seize these opportunities, operators need an AIDC-centric all-optical network. Huawei proposes the LIGHTS target network as a key priority for operators in the AI era, with six key capabilities: Low Latency, Intelligent Operation, Green Foundation, High Reliability, Tbps-level Capacity, and Security Assurance.

Gavin Gu, president of Huawei's Optical Transmission Network Domain presented Huawei's Next Generation OTN solution, which responds to the need to build the LIGHTS target network by covering both DCI and DCA scenarios.

For DCI, Next Generation OTN delivers 800G to 2T ultra-high-speed capacity and an OTN capacity pool, which uses minimal resources to pre-deploy capacity in multiple directions. It helps operators achieve fast time-to-market (TTM), maximize fiber capacity, and meet the Tbps-level bandwidth and rapid delivery requirements of DCI traffic.

For DCA, Huawei offers end-to-end (E2E) OXC for a meshed, one-hop direct architecture, millisecond-level WSON for guaranteed high availability, fgOTN for flexible bandwidth from 10Mbps to 1Gbps, and an integrated QKD solution for quantum encryption. In addition, Next Generation OTN has been upgraded in both hardware and software to deliver an end-to-end "zero-outage network."

LIGHTS All-Optical Network Drives Business Growth

Powered by the LIGHTS all-optical network, operators are evolving from a bandwidth-only sales model to delivering core capabilities and value-added services. Computing-power private lines are advancing from a single bandwidth dimension to multiple dimensions covering bandwidth, latency, reliability, and security. This enables operators to offer differentiated services for different industries and improves pricing power. Meanwhile, the convergence of computing and network services is also accelerating. In Hubei, China, for example, operators are combining network and computing advantages to launch integrated services across industries such as education, healthcare and finance.

The LIGHTS all-optical network for the AI era is helping operators seize AI-driven opportunities, realize network monetization and achieve business growth. Huawei will collaborate with industry partners to advance technological innovation and business growth, accelerating the optical transport industry's evolution into the AI era.