Nokia has been appointed by Openreach to build its One Network Platform, an open-access fibre network to serve millions of homes and businesses.
The network will be built using Nokia’s Altiplano and NSP network domain controllers and will help Openreach grow from 17 million connected premises today to 25 million by the end of 2026.
Openreach’s open wholesale broadband network connects users to around 300 communication service providers offering full fibre services to urban centres, towns, villages and smaller rural communities in hard-to-reach areas.
The Openreach One Network Platform will help deliver the flexibility, agility and scale needed to meet these market demands while reducing the number of exchange buildings required to cover the country.
Nokia’s solution is modelled on a modular data centre architectural approach, enabling Openreach to build a large-scale multi-service open-access network that can help reduce the power and space requirements by more than 50 per cent at Ethernet access exchange sites.
The architecture supports various deployment models tailored to different population densities, ensuring communication providers can easily connect end users to the Openreach fibre network.
With Nokia’s Altiplano and NSP network domain controllers, Openreach will be able to automate its fibre connectivity services across point-to-point, GPON and XGS PON technologies through simple intent-based management.
This will simplify operations through a common service-oriented interface and will reduce OSS complexity across the network by 85 per cent. In addition, the solution provides streaming telemetry to give detailed insights into the network’s behaviour and performance.
Trevor Linney, director of network technology at Openreach, said, “This is the next step in our plans to build a future-proof, multi-service, one network platform – that supports both full Field FTTP and future Ethernet products.
“Introducing Nokia’s Altiplano and NSP network domain controllers and 7250 IXR data centre routers will boost automation, network visibility and control, and product flexibility for our communication provider customers and their end-user customers.
“Ultimately, this is about making our network easier to manage, more efficient and reliable, for example, through quicker identification of faults via automation, and helping to cut operational costs.”
Geert Heyninck, general manager of broadband networks at Nokia, said, “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.”