Nokia will expand and upgrade digital infrastructure solutions provider EXA Infrastructure’s international optical transport capabilities using its 1830 Global Express platform and ICE7 coherent optics.
The two companies launched the partnership following a trial of the ICE7 solution in Europe. According to Ciaran Delaney, chief operating officer at EXA, the advanced platform provides a seamless transition from the current ICE6 infrastructure, enhancing its ability to meet increasing bandwidth demands.
Headquartered in London, EXA Infrastructure operates a 155,000-kilometer terrestrial fiber network spanning 37 countries, including six transatlantic cables. The company delivers mission-critical connectivity for data centers, governments, enterprises and hyperscale infrastructure operators.
Nokia said the modernization will increase EXA’s network capacity by up to 15 percent while reducing power consumption and cost per bit by as much as 50 percent. “Driving down power consumption per bit is not just important from a sustainability point of view but is also essential if providers are to meet spiraling connectivity needs because power requirements are a potential limiting factor to data center growth,” said James Watt, Nokia’s senior vice president and general manager of optical networks.
The EXA deal adds to Nokia’s recent global partnerships. In March, Nokia partnered with Honeywell Aerospace Technologies and Canadian tech accelerator Numana to speed up the development of quantum-safe networks in Canada and worldwide. Earlier, Nokia signed a memorandum of understanding with EDGE Group’s KATIM subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates to build secure telecommunications infrastructure, including portable and military-grade 5G solutions.