Nokia and Openreach deploy next generation fiber access network to connect millions in UK to ultra-fast, reliable broadband access

• Nokia fiber solution enables Openreach to significantly extend its full fiber network capacity and coverage
• New fiber access network capable of delivering multi-Gigabit speeds to customers
• Openreach FTTH network is delivering economic and environmental benefits to the UK

Nokia today announced that Openreach will deploy its fiber solutions to help meet its target of bringing ultra-fast and reliable broadband access to 20 million homes across the UK by the mid-to-late 2020s. The fiber rollout with Nokia underpins Openreach’s commitment to build a world-class, secure broadband network that can deliver differentiated customer experiences and provide a platform for the UK’s economic recovery, post Covid-19.

Openreach is focused on extending its fiber networks to better meet evolving consumer demands, support society in unforeseen crises and help socio-economic growth. A nationwide fiber-to-the-home network has the potential to provide a £59 billion boost to UK productivity by 2025ⁱ. It can also enable 400,000 more people to work from home, allow 125,000 parents with dependent children the opportunity to re-enter the workforce and help to reduce greenhouse emissions.

The rollout with Nokia focuses on deploying GPON and XGS-PON fiber access technologies to expand Openreach’s fiber-rich network to reach 4.5 million premises by the end of March 2021. It’s also capable of delivering up to 10Gb/s symmetrical broadband speeds in the future, in areas where demand for additional capacity is required. Nokia’s solution supports a smooth evolution from current traditional deployments to virtualized access-network control and management (SDAN – Software Defined Access Networking) by software upgrade.

The agreement is another key milestone in Nokia’s extensive partnership with Openreach to deliver multi-Gigabit, next generation PON connectivity to customers and builds on an extensive end-to-end network framework that has been established over the past years. This includes G.fast technology which currently allows Openreach to offer 100’s Mb/s to homes in areas where fiber is not available yet. 

Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, said: “We’re accelerating our full fibre build to deliver an ultrafast, ultra-reliable and futureproof broadband network throughout the UK. This new digital platform will help our economy to bounce back more quickly from the Covid-19 pandemic – enabling people to continue work from home, and millions of businesses to operate seamlessly online for decades to come.  Right now, we’re making the new network available to around 32,000 homes and businesses every week, and Nokia’s innovative solutions are helping us to build it better, broader and faster. Our partnership with Nokia will be critical in helping us to upgrade the nation and hit our target of reaching four and a half million premises by the end of March 2021.” 

Peter Bell, Network Technologies Director, Openreach CTIO said: “Nokia is already making a major contribution to Openreach’s Fibre-to-the-Premises rollout, including in the build of our first fully fibred city, Salisbury. We’re confident that Nokia will continue to be a strong partner in helping us meet our ambition throughout the UK.”

Sandra Motley, President of Fixed Networks at Nokia said: “Ensuring everybody has access to broadband services is critical, especially during unprecedented times like these where it has become the lifeline to millions working, handling healthcare and learning from home.  Our fiber solutions will help Openreach bring enhanced ultra-broadband services to millions of new customers across the UK today while our 10G PON technology will help to futureproof their network against whatever may come next.”

Source: Nokia