CORNING, N.Y., March 16 -- Corning Inc. announced that China Netcom Corp. Ltd. (CNC) has selected Corning as its principal optical fiber supplier. Corning will supply more than 500,000 km of LEAF optical fiber over the next three years as part of a long-term supply agreement with the China telecommunications company. CNC will deploy Corning LEAF fiber in the significant network backbone that will connect 17 major cities across southeast China. During its first phase, the CNC network will contain about 12,000 km of cable. "In order to truly represent the next generation of telecommunications enterprise in China, CNC pursued partnerships with leading global enterprises in all areas," said CNC's COO, Charelseson Zheng. "Our selection of Corning LEAF fiber ensures CNC's network will be the first large-scale, high-speed and broadband IP network of its kind in China."