Nokia expands production of PON optical line terminals in India


Nokia has announced plans to increase production of PON optical line terminals (OLTs) at its factory located in Sriperumbudur near Chennai, India. This move is a response to the growing demand from both Indian and international customers. In addition, the company has also recently expanded its 5G coverage with its latest Wavence microwave solutions.

The shift in consumer behavior, such as an increase in remote work and a greater demand for data-intensive entertainment services, is driving a need for broadband connectivity. This is being supported by government and private equity funding worldwide. Nokia is participating in India’s Production Linked Incentive scheme and is expanding production in Chennai due to growing demand.

Key Highlights

  • Nokia’s Chennai facility will be producing GPON optical line terminals (OLTs).
  • The expansion of production will address the needs of customers both in India and around the world.

The Asia-Pacific region, including markets like Japan, India, and Southeast Asia is experiencing high demand for fiber connectivity, particularly in the form of fiber to the home (FTTH).

Additionally, mobile network operators are also seeking fiber for their 5G transport networks to handle the anticipated increase in data traffic. The increase in Nokia’s production of PON OLTs in India will aid in expanding the company’s production capabilities and reach.

Speaking at the event, Sandy Motley, President, Fixed Networks at Nokia, said:

The importance and criticality of high-speed broadband has never been more pronounced as it is today. As the momentum towards 5G networks and new hybrid usage models push operators towards increasingly distributed network architectures, service providers are investing in fiber to build out and upgrade their existing networks.

Nokia is the leader in FTTx solutions globally and is innovating rapidly to introduce next generation PON solutions. We are happy to add the manufacturing capacity in India to better address increasing demand in the region and worldwide.

Commenting on the extension of fiber broadband, Sanjay Malik, SVP and Head of India Market at Nokia, said:

India is seeing massive demand for fiber connectivity from both fixed and mobile operators. OLT production at our Chennai plant will offer a timely boost to meeting this demand in a timely way.

Service providers in India will benefit from the increased availability of both existing Lightspan product lines as well as upcoming GPON access nodes which offer smaller lower-density OLTs to suit a range of conditions and requirements.