Huawei, in collaboration with several African power utilities, has released the fgOTN White Paper for Electric Power to support the construction of next-generation power communication networks across the continent.
Unveiled during the Africa Energy Forum in June, the white paper outlines reference architecture for utilities seeking to modernise their communication infrastructure with fine-grain optical transport network (fgOTN) – a future-oriented evolution of the traditional synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH)-based systems.
With digitalisation and AI-driven operations gaining momentum across the power sector, legacy SDH systems are struggling to keep pace. Many devices are reaching end-of-life, prompting the need for a modernised, high-performance network backbone capable of supporting intelligent grid operations.
The white paper positions fgOTN as a compelling solution. Developed within the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication (ITU-T) framework, fgOTN provides secure, high-reliability hard pipe transmission with fine granularity, offering enhanced bandwidth efficiency and isolation for mission-critical services.
“fgOTN is a new technology defined by ITU-T. It inherits the security and stability of SDH, and combines it with the bandwidth and flexibility advantages of OTN,” says Luo Xin, Optical Product Director at Huawei Southern Africa. “It is well suited to the evolving needs of modern power systems. With CIGRE establishing the D2.65 working group to explore fgOTN applications, we believe this white paper can accelerate understanding and adoption among African utilities.”
The paper recommends adopting intelligent, automated communication infrastructure to support applications such as unmanned grid inspection, real-time grid visualisation and enterprise-wide digital transformation. It advocates a fully converged architecture that accommodates operational technology, information technology and Internet services on a single resilient platform.
Huawei says fgOTN enables African utilities to improve grid observability, enhance control and support the shift toward market-driven power trading and digitalised enterprise operations.
Download the white paper here:
https://e.huawei.com/en/material/optical/0673b498f2344a858cf3cb9898cda88c
