Mainland Insurance Giant Revolutionises Network Architecture with HKT SD-WAN

As one of the leading players in China’s insurance industry, this nationwide large-scale property insurance company operates a business network that spans the entire country, with premium income consistently ranking among the sector’s top performers. Its vast physical network—comprising dozens of branches and thousands of operational sites — has successfully extended its business reach nationwide. However, this scale also imposes exceptionally high demands on its network infrastructure.

Three Major Constraints of Traditional MPLS

With accelerating digital transformation and surging market demand for business agility, the company’s long-established Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network architecture could no longer keep pace with rapid business growth.

 

• MPLS dedicated-line leasing costs were high, creating sustained and heavy financial pressure. 

• MPLS provisioning and adjustments were time-consuming, making it difficult to match the flexible operational needs for rapidly opening or closing offices and severely hindering market responsiveness. 

• Traditional dedicated lines offered limited bandwidth and were inconvenient to upgrade, unable to support the growing volume of real-time applications and thereby affecting service experience and operational efficiency.

 

The enterprise required a complete network architecture overhaul to achieve the three core objectives of cost reduction, efficiency enhancement, and greater flexibility.

Tailor-Made Secure and Controllable Private SD-WAN Solution

Given the massive business scale and stringent requirements for data security and regulatory compliance, HKT designed a fully privatised Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) solution tailored specifically to its needs.

 

At the core of the solution, all SD-WAN controllers and management components were deployed within the company’s own data centres. This ensured complete autonomy and control over the network hub, architecturally satisfying the financial insurance industry’s highest compliance standards for keeping sensitive business data “within the private domain.”

 

In implementation, the solution delivered unified, tiered intelligent upgrades across hundreds of sites of varying types. Each site retained its essential dedicated lines to guarantee core-business reliability, while cost-effective local internet broadband was introduced as the primary or load-balancing link. This significantly improved the availability and transmission quality of internet connections.

Comprehensive Leap in Cost Reduction, Efficiency, and Flexibility

 - Significant Cost Reduction and Efficiency Gains:

Average available bandwidth per site increased several-fold, while the network’s Total Operating Costs (TOC) declined markedly. By replacing portions of expensive MPLS dedicated lines with high-value internet bandwidth, the cost structure was optimised and return on investment (ROI) rose substantially.

 

- Full-Scale Improvement in Business Flexibility:

Network provisioning for new sales offices was shortened, and site closures enabled rapid, flexible resource reclamation—supporting swift deployment and migration. Overall network performance and stability were significantly enhanced, fully safeguarding user experience for mission-critical applications.

 

Leveraging its proven SD-WAN architectural design expertise, strong project delivery capabilities, and continuous professional technical support, HKT successfully helped the enterprise break free from the limitations of traditional networks, revolutionise its infrastructure, and lay a solid foundation for its digital transformation.