Furukawa Electric and Nokia Collaborate on Ultra-High-Speed Broadband Technology

Furukawa Electric announced that it has entered into a strategic sales partnership with Nokia Solutions and Networks Japan G.K. for the sale of PON products that comply with global standards in Japan.

In recent years, the rapid spread of 5G, cloud, and IoT has increased the demand for various communication networks using optical fibers. Under these circumstances, PON technology has been attracting attention as a core technology, and further acceleration, high functionality, and low latency are expected in the future. Furukawa Electric has set out to "create a social infrastructure that integrates information, energy, and mobility" in its Group Vision 2030, while Nokia is promoting the "Fiber for Everything" vision, focused on providing operators with a full range of future-proof, energy-efficient PON technologies to connect everything to high-speed internet services. The two companies started a strategic partnership in 2022 to accelerate the deployment of optical LANs in Latin America, and are expanding similar efforts in Japan.

Through this partnership, the two companies will promote joint planning and development of PON solutions specialized for the Japanese market, as well as strengthen local support systems for Nokia's latest OLT/ONT (Optical Line Terminal/Optical Network Terminal) and Optical LAN products. Furthermore, they will jointly sell and support the introduction of these products to communication carriers, companies, and local governments, accelerating the spread of next-generation optical access networks in Japan. The two companies will also work together to build sustainable networks that prioritize reducing environmental impact.

Furukawa Electric will utilize its top-class global share in optical fiber manufacturing and sales, as well as its domestic EPON(note 2) integration and cable component expertise, to accelerate the construction of next-generation optical access networks in Japan by combining Nokia's OLT technology.

Furukawa Electric plans to establish an environment to verify Nokia's 25G PON and future next-generation fiber solutions like 50G PON within its Hiratsuka factory by 2025 and start operations. The two companies will also collaborate on technical visions such as automation of network operations and predictive maintenance using AI, aiming to create new businesses in the next-generation communication market.

Source: Furukawa Electric media announcement