China Broadband Communications: For Everything Cloud

Owing to the myriad of benefits over conventional IT architectures, cloud’s merits transcend the barriers of efficiency, affordability, and scalability, enabling companies— regardless of the industry or size—to utilize cloud-based technologies in one form or the other. However, every country has its set of regulations and compliance guidelines governing the utilization of data and the implementation of cloud services. Consequently, firms trying to establish a foothold in a foreign soil are bound by the regional mandates that could often slow down the establishment and progress of the business in that marketplace (unless they have done thorough research and then stepped in is usually not the case). The Chinese market is no different. A long-established local partner can simplify the process of entering a large and complex market like China and advise its clients on regulatory and tax obligations while also helping to increase their business into a new and unfamiliar area.

“We understand the Chinese market the best, and we can help people solve many of their cloud computing problems in China,” begins Richard Fung, CEO and co-founder of China Broadband Communications (CBC). CBC was co-founded by Mr. Tom Wei and Mr. Richard Fung in 2008, and is backed by CBC Capital owned by Edward Tien, who is one of the key leaders of China’s Internet and Telecom industry.

While the problems faced 10 years ago are different from today, the vision of CBC “To create a better everyday for businesses around the world” has remained the same. Since serving as the CEO from 2010, Richard has catalyzed CBC’s growth from a start-up to a leader in Cloud, SD-WAN, and ICT industry in Greater China and beyond. Richard’s innovative solutions and management models expanded CBC’s market share. The company engages an ecosystem of international carriers, cloud providers, system integrators, and enterprises with a unique and complete service portfolio comprising of Internet access, IP VPN, IDC, SD-WAN, and cloud services in China. “We are no longer a traditional telecom service provider, and our capability to provide Network-as-a-Service is unparalleled,” adds Richard.

Established in 2008, CBC has over the years built solid foundation of network infrastructural services catering to the requirements of enterprises including Fortune 500 companies and large Chinese enterprises, consequently developing indigenous SD-WAN products. The company has evolved from a connectivity service provider to an innovative technology solutions provider in the recent years. It has launched its in-house developed SD-WAN solutions, which combines the technological benefits of SDWAN, such as simplified centralised management, zero touch provisioning; and network optimization capabilities within and beyond China with its next generation SDWAN – eNet fabric, built on its network infrastructure. More importantly, CBC has its own R&D team, which can provide customized solution to meet the need of customers in different industries.

CBC eNet Connect

“Nowadays, the Internet is of utmost importance as it satisfies many communication requirements, and we have shifted from copper or fiber dedicated lines to the cloud and software-defined technology,” states Richard.

Companies expanding into China or Chinese companies expanding internationally can now adopt a cost-effective SD-WAN solution that is easy to set up and simple to manage.For instance, CBC’s eNet Connect is an agile cloud-based SD-WAN that resolves network problems and enhances seamless access to global cloud-based applications like Microsoft 365, Skype for Business, Salesforce, and more. It is cost-effective compared to MPLS service or other SD-WAN providers.

eNet Connect is a fully-managed, transport agnostic, and cloud-native SD-WAN service. Enterprises requiring SD-WAN for multiple retail points or companies looking for an SD-WAN or Hybrid WAN product that connects between China and their home country can benefit from this service. It is a network-as-a-service (NaaS) designed to enable enterprises and businesses to migrate to SD-WAN with zero touch provisioning, better network visibility, and centralized policy management. With a minimal upfront cost, customers can expect a service, which is scalable and robust, along with cost-effective Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network replacement.

The smart routing optimization of CBC eNet Connect improves Internet performance domestically and internationally based on the CBC IPv4 and IPv6 infrastructure. CBC eNet Connect monitors path’s link quality continuously and leverages different uplinks such as wired Internet and 4G uplink to improve application traffic via different paths. CBC eNet Connect can also align customers' websites to eNet fabric via different Elastic Cloud Router (ECR) to achieve higher quality performance.

Another key benefit of adopting CBC eNet Connect is the reduction of circuit costs for enterprises and businesses with multiple locations. MPLS is the enterprise gold standard of WAN transport between branches. Through Hybrid Connect, enterprises can enjoy combined Internet access circuits from multiple ISP, including 4G LTE as well as 5G technologies.

CBC eNet Connect supports enterprises in moving to the cloud and offers secure connectivity to various cloud platforms, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Alibaba Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. With automation and flexibility, CBC eNet Connect can be set up in minutes instead of weeks or months. Last but not least, CBC eNet Connect features an intelligent performance management feature that encompasses everything from networking to dataflow on a single platform. Users can easily and quickly monitor and report data while making the necessary changes to network configuration.

CBC’s Network Management

“If companies are running in the cloud with software-defined technologies, they need to step up on the network side as well,” states Richard. CBC provides users with a perfect Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) “one stop” service, covering consulting, on-site customer service, operation, and maintenance. Customers receive fast, high-quality, efficient IT and communication with simplified processes service.

The company draws on advanced technologies at home and abroad, creates a perfect networked system, and combines years of experience in managing networks.

Based on user applications for the WAN, CBC forms a set of end-to-end management service systems, which can, in turn, create a hassle-free experience for customers.

CBC’s Network Service Management Center monitors and maintains the network health status of customers 24*7, and provides online network management reports for customers. They can log in to the online network management platform to view network traffic and equipment in real-time.

Experience and Expertise

“Over the past 12 years, we have served many of the world’s leading businesses in finance, insurance, logistics, healthcare, media and content, e-Commerce, and more,” says Tom Wei, CBC's Chairman and Co-Founder. Its customers also include many Fortune 500 companies.

Among this clientele, a leading global healthcare company was operating in China through a joint venture and was providing consumer and corporate medical coverage. As a premium medical services company, the client wanted to build a new high-quality, secure network to safeguard its patients’ data. With limited IT resources due to a new setup, the client was looking for a vendor that could support the system, security, and cloud infrastructure needs.

Since the collaboration in 2017, CBC is helping the medical services company in building its entire China network and cloud platforms. Based on their requirements, CBC presented the best commercial offering, standing apart from four other vendors in competition. CBC administered MPLS as a primary network and internet as a secondary network for all its clinics and offices. On top of the network, CBC is currently able to offer direct connectivity via its MPLS platform to MS Azure Cloud. This instilled confidence in the customer that CBC can manage the IT setup end-to-end, in a controlled and secured manner.

Moreover, CBC offers in-store WiFi in compliance with the existing China regulations, in addition to providing access to other public clouds. This will be important for the customer if they have retail needs to use Tencent Cloud or Ali Cloud in the future. “CBC is focused on delighting customers throughout end-to-end engagement and experience journey with CBC,” states Tom.

What lies ahead for CBC?

Headquartered in Beijing, CBC has offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. Its extensive network footprint in China connects thousands of buildings and data centers with more than 40 points of presence (PoPs) covering major business regions across China.

Forging ahead, CBC envisions to see itself solely as an outright Network as a Service provider in the upcoming years. “We are a combination of both telecom and a technological innovation company which is quite exceptional for our clients,” concludes Richard.