China Unicom Launches 2014 Fiber Optic Cable Centralized Procurement: Including 6 Product Categories

China Unicom issued an announcement on November 6, officially launching the 2014 fiber optic cable centralized procurement prequalification work. According to the announcement, the fiber optic cable products in this procurement are divided into six major categories, including G.652D fiber, G.657A2 fiber, ordinary optical cable, ordinary optical cable (GYTA-24 core), ribbon optical cable, and butterfly-shaped drop optical cable.

The announcement did not disclose the specific procurement quantity. According to industry insiders, the total quantity of China Unicom's fiber optic cable centralized procurement is similar to that of China Telecom, and the sum of the two is close to the total procurement volume of China Mobile. China Telecom announced the launch of its 2014 fiber optic cable centralized procurement in early September, with an estimated fiber demand of 22 million fiber-core kilometers, ordinary fiber demand of 21.5 million fiber-core kilometers, and butterfly-shaped drop cable demand of 0.8 million fiber-core kilometers.

Market research firm CRU previously estimated that global fiber demand in 2014 is expected to exceed 300 million fiber-core kilometers. Among this, China's market demand accounts for half of the share.