Deutsche Telekom taps Nokia for optical transport network modernisation

Deutsche Telekom has selected Nokia as a long-term strategic partner to transform the global operator’s nationwide optical network into a service-centric platform.

Deutsche Telekom has embarked on its optical network transformation journey to give its customers what it believes will be a highly differentiated service quality of experience and to be more responsive to their new services needs, while also reducing the total cost of ownership. It sees the Nokia optical transport technology as an essential element in enabling the company to realise these goals by creating a more scalable and automated services-centric platform.

As well as delivering an enhanced service quality experience to its customers to a more scalable and automated one, the transformation to upgrading the existing Deutsche Telekom network is also designed to see the company benefit from automation to simplify and streamline operational tasks to make more efficient use of network resources.

At the heart of the network transformation are the Nokia WaveFabric service-ready platforms and Nokia WaveSuite software portfolio, which includes the Nokia 1830 Photonic Service Switch powered by the PSE-V family of coherent digital signal processors (DSPs). Nokia has been offering coherent optical technology since the first commercial deployment of a single-carrier 100G wavelength in 2010 and has since claimed additional industry milestones as coherent technology became a foundational element of optical transport.

In 2018, Nokia implemented probabilistic constellation shaping in the Photonic Service Engine 3 DSP. The technique is said to enhance performance to near theoretical limits, the Shannon Limit, while at the same time providing flexibility in balancing rate versus reach. With the introduction of its fifth-generation coherent DSP family, Nokia says it is looking beyond the limit, to optimised coherent technologies with the right features, in the right form-factor, for the unique applications demanded by every part of a network.

With Deutsche Telekom, the optical solution will see use in the transformation of the core network and strategic regional distribution sites, enabling optimised performance and a consistent customer experience across Germany.

“We are excited to support Deutsche Telekom and will be providing a customer-focused solution that will transform its optical transport network into a services-centric platform for the Industry 4.0 era,” said Rafael De Fermin Del Castillo, SVP Europe and MEA, IP/optical networks at Nokia. “This project leverages our Nokia Bell Labs optical network innovation, experience and expertise, including our Germany-based innovation centres which have made significant contributions to our optical networking innovation.”