China Telecom Duct Cable Tender: 26 Bidders, 22% Split

INDUSTRY NEWS · FIBRE & CABLE · SEPTEMBER 2026

China Telecom has published the candidate winners for the second batch of its 2026 outdoor and duct cable framework. Twenty-six suppliers bid; eight were named. The signal for overseas buyers is not who won — it is that six of the eight landed within a hair of each other on price while the two cheapest bids sat more than 20% below the pack.

On 18 September 2026 the China Telecom procurement portal published the Notice of Candidate Winners — 2026 Outdoor Optical Cable and Duct Optical Cable Centralised Procurement Project, Duct Cable Portion, Second Batch Re-tender. According to the notice, 26 companies bid and eight were named candidates, with tax-inclusive totals as follows.

• 1st — Jinhua Zhongke Communications: RMB 340,525,986.87
• 2nd — Zhejiang Hongsheng Communications: RMB 304,490,143.62
• 3rd — Jiangsu Zhongtian Technology: RMB 371,811,053.88
• 4th — YOFC (Changfei Fibre & Cable): RMB 371,816,011.68
• 5th — Shenzhen SDG Information: RMB 371,803,708.20
• 6th — FiberHome Communications: RMB 371,805,320.97
• 7th — Jiangsu Hengtong Optic-Electric: RMB 371,800,001.12
• 8th — Shantou Aoxing Communication Equipment: RMB 371,800,144.65

The spread is the story. Bids three through eight cluster inside a band of roughly RMB 16,000 on a total of about RMB 371.8 million — a difference of well under 0.01%. The second-lowest bid, at RMB 304.49 million, is 22.1% below the cluster; the lowest, at RMB 340.53 million, is 9.2% below it. When an entire field converges on one number and two suppliers break away from it, the conversation behind the bid is no longer about cost accounting.

Why a cable tender in China matters to a buyer elsewhere

This is a re-tender. China Telecom opened its 2026–2027 outdoor and duct cable framework on 25 May 2026; industry reports at the time described the first round as failing to award. Since late 2025, AI data-centre build-out and fibre-optic-guided drone demand have tightened global fibre and cable supply, pushed prices up, and shortened the price cycle. Operator tenders have repeatedly failed to close on the first attempt.

That matters because duct cable is the least glamorous and most capacity-hungry part of the fibre stack. It competes for the same drawing towers, the same preform supply and the same skilled labour as the outdoor and long-haul cable that hyperscale projects are absorbing. When a domestic framework of this size has to be re-run, it is a capacity signal, not a bookkeeping one.

What this means for fibre and cable sourcing

• Quote validity is the first specification. If domestic Chinese frameworks are being re-tendered inside a quarter, a supplier quote with a 90-day validity is a liability. Ask for the price-adjustment clause in writing before you compare unit prices.
• Read the field, not the headline. Twenty-six bidders is healthy competition; six identical prices is not necessarily a bargain. Ask which preform source and which drawing line your cable will actually come off.
• Duct and indoor cable is where allocation hides. Long-haul and submarine demand takes priority. Confirm the delivery window for duct, drop and indoor cable separately from the fibre order.
• Plan a second qualified source. A framework that took a second round to close is the clearest possible argument for dual qualification.

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How to specify when the market is moving

• Fix the fibre, then the jacket. State fibre type (G.652.D, G.657.A2 and so on) separately from cable construction; the two are priced on different curves.
• Ask for attenuation and geometry on the actual reel. Bid-level quality promises are worth less than a test report tied to the delivery lot.
• Match the cable to the route. Duct, aerial figure-8 and direct-buried constructions are not interchangeable, and swapping them late is where cost overruns start.
• Keep the transceiver plan in view. Cable and active equipment are usually ordered in the same budget cycle; aligning the two avoids stranded inventory at both ends of the link.

Sources and disclosure

Source: C-FOL (光纤在线), “China Telecom publishes 2026 duct cable second-batch tender result: eight suppliers named”, 24 September 2026, reporting the China Telecom procurement portal notice dated 18 September 2026. Bid totals are the tax-inclusive figures published in the notice and are reproduced as the source states them; we have not independently verified them. Percentages comparing the bids are our own arithmetic on those published figures. Background on the May 2026 framework opening, the first-round outcome and the AI data-centre and drone demand picture is attributed to the same source. This article is original editorial analysis by TUOLAN TRADE for industry reference, not investment, legal or procurement advice. Product names and company names are the property of their respective owners.