Openreach taps Nokia to introduce intent-based fibre networking in UK

Openreach is to construct an open-access fibre network to serve homes and businesses and help the company achieve its target of connecting 25 million premises by the end of 2026.

Openreach’s current open wholesale broadband network connects users to around 300 communication providers offering full-fibre services spanning urban centres, towns, villages and smaller rural communities in some of the hardest-to-reach parts of the UK. The “intent-based” network will be built using Nokia’s One Network Platform, responding to the increasing demand for high-speed broadband across the UK.

Nokia said the One Network Platform delivers the required flexibility, agility and scale needed to meet these market demands while reducing the number of exchange buildings needed to cover the country.

The offering uses a modular datacentre architecture so that Openreach can build a large-scale multi-service open-access network that can help reduce the power and space requirements by over 50% at an exchange site for Ethernet access.

The architecture supports deployment models tailored to different population densities, ensuring communication providers can connect users to the Openreach fibre network.

By using Altiplano and NSP network domain controllers, Nokia assured that Openreach will be able to automate its fibre connectivity services across point-to-point, GPON, and XGS PON technologies through intent-based management of network complexity.

Through a common service-oriented interface, this is claimed to be able to simplify operations drastically and reduce OSS complexity across the network by 85%. In addition, the service provides streaming telemetry to provide detailed insights into the network’s behaviour and performance.

Assessing what effect the use of the Nokia technology could have, Openreach director of network technology Trevor Linney described it as the next step in the company’s plans to build a future-proof, multi-service, one network platform that supports both full-field fibre to the premises and future Ethernet products.

“Introducing Nokia’s Altiplano and NSP network domain controllers and IXR datacentre routers will boost automation, network visibility and control, and product flexibility for our communication provider customers and their end-user customers,” he said. “Ultimately, this is about making our network easier to manage, more efficient and reliable, for example, quicker identification of faults via automation, and helping to cut operational costs.”

Geert Heyninck, general manager of broadband networks at Nokia, added: “Open-access networks are the future of broadband, and we’re proud to support Openreach in bringing fibre connectivity to millions across the UK.

“Meeting growing broadband demands requires scalability and flexibility, which is where the intent-based design of our solution really shines. We are motivated to help Openreach automate operations, optimise resources and create a robust, future-ready network that serves both urban and rural communities.”