Fudan University has launched China's first on-campus optics-based information transmission network, a development which has pushed Shanghai to the forefront of nationwide information technology innovation efforts.

"The network will significantly speed up the transmission of information and data," said Chen Liangyao, dean of the university's Information Science and Engineering College.

The new network is based on dense wavelength division mulitiplex (DWDM) technology, which uses photons rather than traditional electrons as the transmission vehicle for information from computer to computer.

"Using photons will help us break the transmission bottlenecks experienced with electrons to satisfy the infinitely expanding need for greater bandwidth," Chen said.

With the Internet, the most common medium through which information is exchanged, most Chinese users complain that transmissions are too slow. This is largely blamed on China's lack of bandwidth, the amount of access to the Internet.

Shanghai government officials set a high value on the network, predicting possible commercial uses will boost Shanghai's economy. The optic network can easily be applied to the IT (information technology) industry, explained Yang Yuliang, vice-president of Fudan University.

(China Daily 06/05/2001)