The Finnish operator already deploys the vendor’s 10G fibre solution and is now planning to deploy 25G and beyond on existing fibre
Elisa Finland is to deploy Nokia’s Lightspan MF solution to improve its fibre network and deliver ultra-broadband services to customers across Finland.
Leveraging Nokia’s fibre tech, Elisa will be the first in Europe to demonstrate 25G, 50G, and 100G passive optical network (PON) services across its existing fibre network.
The live trial demonstrates how different PON technologies can be combined on the same fibre to evolve its broadband offerings and “how operators can easily upgrade their fibre network to meet the demand for faster, more reliable connectivity,” Nokia’s press release says.
Nokia also claims it is the only vendor to support all “next-generation PON options”, including 10G, 25G, 50G and, in future 100G PONs.
Elisa has deployed Nokia’s Altiplano platform to support 10G XGS-PON deployments and to help automate and improve the management, scalability and reliability of its network. This new technology should allow it to meet future bandwidth demands driven by AI: Bell Labs (owned by Nokia) is forecasting that in Western Europe alone total AI traffic is projected to reach 91 EB/month by 2030.
Sami Rajamäki, Vice President of Network Services at Elisa, said, “We’re excited to be the first in Europe to show up to 100G PON speeds in a live fiber network trial and demonstrate the world-class capabilities we can deliver to support the next generation of broadband services.”
He added, “History has shown that it is impossible to forecast all the new use cases for greater speeds, that is, what new 25 to 100G connections will enable in the future, but we know that for example online gaming and industrial users are among the first to benefit from ever faster broadband connections”
Matthieu Bourguignon, SVP and Head of Europe for Network Infrastructure business at Nokia, said: “We see demand for high-speed internet access surging in Europe with end users and enterprises alike increasingly seeking reliable, secure, high-quality broadband connectivity…Our fiber technology provides the perfect solution for operators that want to quickly increase capacity and flexibly migrate to next-generation fiber technologies.”