Nokia bolsters fixed network offer with SaaS suite, 10G broadband in Vietnam

After a period in which it has shown the virtues and capability of its mobile services, comms tech provider Nokia has announced an expansion of its Fixed Network suite, available through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model, and the first deployment of 10G fibre broadband in Vietnam, with operator Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications (VNPT).

Fibre broadband is being rolled out rapidly in Vietnam. In September 2021, the country’s Ministry of Information and Communications launched the National Digital Transformation Programme, with the goal of fibre internet infrastructure covering 80% of households and 100% of communes by 2025.

According to Global Data’s Vietnam telecom operators country intelligence report, VNPT is the industry leader, with 39.5% of the market in 2022. As well as home internet, the operator offers mobile and pay-TV services.

Moving to a multi-gig network is intended to help VNPT differentiate its services and maintain its leadership position. With this technology, VNPT will be able to offer customers a full choice of speeds up to 10Gbps on the existing platform without the need for construction work to lay new fibre.

The initial roll-out at VNPT is designed to connect 10,000 homes and businesses in the eight largest provinces of the country.

Nokia is providing fibre access nodes for the operator’s exchanges and fibre modems for users’ premises.

“This project is our first step towards high-class FTTx [fibre to the x] services which meet our residential and business customers’ demand for higher bandwidth and service quality using the latest generation XGS-PON,” said Dang Anh Son, CEO at VNPT Net Corporation. “In the next step, VNPT will work with Nokia to deploy cloud-based network management systems for the XGS-PON and enhance customer experiences through digital transformation solutions.”

AVA Fixed Network Insights is designed to enable operators to strengthen their customer service offerings while reducing operating costs.

Through services consumed purely on demand via a subscription, Nokia said its approach to telecom SaaS is about enhancing the ability to launch services faster, improve time to value more quickly and cut complexity.

Using artificial intelligence and machine learning insights powered by Bell Labs algorithms across DSL, fibre and fixed wireless access networks, AVA Fixed Network Insights can provide operations and customer care teams with automated recommendations to proactively identify and remotely resolve problems in both home and access domains before they lead to network service problems, as well as reduce call handling times and improve first call resolution. It’s also attributed with avoiding large, up-front investments and the need to perform on-site software maintenance and updates.

AVA Fixed Network Insights is expected to eventually entail chatbot-driven support through what are said to be easy-to-implement recommendations that can be accessed by the user without the need for on-site or remote technical support.

Nokia’s Fixed Networks applications, including Altiplano Access Controller and WiFi Cloud Controller, can already be deployed by operators through a SaaS subscription.

AVA Fixed Network Insights is expected to be commercially available by the end of this year.

“The SaaS delivery model is a critical piece of digital transformation for operators,” said Julie Kunstler, chief analyst at Omdia. “Nokia’s new Fixed Network Insights SaaS component provides operators with another needed pathway towards AIOps-driven, self-healing fixed broadband networks.”