Nokia Redefines Fixed Access Virtualization with
Cloud-Native and Software-Defined Products
Altiplano and Lightspan

• Nokia automates the fixed access network and unlocks new capabilities with virtualized access platform Altiplano to support widest range of software-defined use cases
• Nokia Lightspan programmable access nodes drive new deployment practices for central office, data center and copper/fiber outside plant to build open and scalable access networks
• Nokia takes lead in industry specifications and open-source initiatives to accelerate adoption of software-defined access networks

Nokia today launched its new Software-Defined Access Network (SDAN) solution, a comprehensive set of cloud-native software, open programmable hardware, scalable deployment practices, automated operations and integration services. Leveraging Nokia’s work with industry bodies, open source initiatives and extensive collaboration with leading service providers, SDAN enables operators to build pragmatic solutions and avoid vendor lock-in as they tackle surging customer demand.  
 
This end-user and policy maker demand for broadband is driving operators to add more bandwidth, more connections and more technologies, meaning increasing complexity in the network. SDAN is the key to making the access network smarter, so operators can manage cost and complexity and renew their ability to scale. Rather than apply virtualization for virtualization’s sake, SDAN harnesses cloud intelligence and programmability to support concrete use cases that bring the most value to operators – such as network slicing, virtual access networks, data center practices, wavelength mobility, cloud-based provisioning, automated operations and edge cloud architectures to enable 5G and IoT applications.
 
Nokia’s cloud-native software platform, Altiplano, is uniquely designed for the SDN/NFV space, renewing operators’ ability to scale by centralizing and virtualizing network functionality that was traditionally embedded in the access equipment. Altiplano offers intuitive business logic to cut across traditional network management silos and auto-align the network. Leveraging open interfaces, open data models and open industry initiatives such as Open Broadband, ON.LAB, Open Networking, CORD, ONAP and BBF, Altiplano allows operators to integrate Nokia SDAN easily in a multivendor environment.
 
The Nokia Lightspan family delivers programmable access nodes, specifically designed for SDAN use cases, which bring data center practices to the central office and introduce cloud and operational agility to the copper/fiber outside plant. The innovative and compact Lightspan hardware comes with powerful processing, increased throughput and power efficient design. It features the Lightspan SX-16F, the world’s first 16-port reverse powered G.fast micro-node which can be safely reverse-powered from the home. It also includes the Lightspan CF-24W, a stackable software-defined optical line terminal (OLT) that delivers the industry’s highest next-generation PON (NG-PON) capacity in a single one-rack unit.  

SDAN is driven by real world use-cases defined by cooperation with leading operators from around the world like nbn, and SK Telecom, to name just a few of the more than 30 trials and demos Nokia has been conducting. SDAN is an essential part of Nokia’s Intelligent Access vision, a new generation of broadband where networks are not only faster but also better and smarter.
 
Teresa Mastrangelo, Principal Analyst at Broadband Trends, said: "While fixed access operators across the globe are raising the bar on ultra-broadband coverage, it’s no longer enough to just make networks faster. Nokia SDAN lays the foundation for fixed operators to change the economics of their business with cloud agility and software-driven automation. Nokia SDAN is putting virtualization to work, focusing on real-world benefits for operators and end users, addressing investment protection and improving scalability with industry leading powerful access nodes. With this announcement, Nokia has the opportunity to lead operators into this new era of software-defined access networks."
 
Federico Guillén, president of Nokia Fixed Networks, said: "Nokia focuses on areas where virtualization provides concrete benefits to operators. We deliberately go for an open, standardized, vendor-agnostic approach that smoothly integrates legacy as well as new cloud services. Our fixed access virtualization portfolio now covers copper, fiber, coax networks and professional services, which makes us ideally placed to transform the operator’s network, operations, and business just as the opportunities of 5G begin to accelerate."

Source: Nokia media announcement