MTN has just completed a live trial of what it claims is "the fastest and most intelligent optical network in the industry" using wavelength-division multiplexing technology.
The operator says an ultra-fast single-channel 2.4Tbit per second field trial recently took place on MTN's national fibre backbone network in SA, enabled by Huawei technology.
"In the first scenario, 2.4Tbit/s with 16 quadrature amplitude modulation was achieved over a transmission distance exceeding 300km. In the second scenario, 2Tbit/s with quadrature phase-shift keying was achieved over a transmission distance of 1031km.
"The success of this trial demonstrates the advanced optical transport system with bandwidth capacities far beyond the existing 100G technology."
MTN says new features of the "world's first" transport software-defined network (SDN) were also tested.
"Huawei Transport SDN solutions, using physical network modelling and resource abstraction, have realised transmission pipe virtualization. These advances allow traditional communication technology networks to be 'IT-like'."
The trial, says the company, has successfully demonstrated SDN features such as bandwidth on demand and virtual transport service.
MTN's group technology officer, Navi Naidoo, says MTN aims to invest in "future-proof transport networks" in its existing markets, as well as with the aim to extend its technology offerings globally.