Nokia has secured a multi-year contract from Orange Belgium to modernize the telecom operator’s transport infrastructure by creating a single converged optical network that unifies fixed and mobile connectivity across Belgium.
The project will strengthen network resilience, improve scalability, simplify operations, and support rising bandwidth demand driven by AI applications, cloud computing, video streaming, online gaming, remote working, and enterprise digital services.
The transformation will replace separate fixed and mobile transport systems with a unified optical transport network, enabling Orange Belgium to manage traffic more efficiently while accelerating the rollout of new digital services. The upgraded infrastructure will transport fixed and mobile traffic from customer premises through metro access and backbone networks, supporting services from 1G to 400G and beyond.
A key milestone of the deployment is the first implementation of Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) platform within an Orange affiliate for core optical transport. The deployment also includes Nokia’s AI-powered WaveSuite automation software, which will automate network management, improve operational efficiency, and reduce service deployment times.
The network will also incorporate end-to-end synchronization management integrated with Nokia’s radio access network infrastructure, a GMPLS control plane to enhance resiliency, and thin transponder technology powered by the latest high-capacity 1830 PSS platform. These technologies are designed to deliver secure, reliable, and high-performance connectivity for consumer, enterprise, and cloud workloads.
Philippe Toussaint, CTO at Orange Belgium, said the investment supports its long-term strategy as 5G, artificial intelligence, and quantum-safe security reshape digital communications. The operator aims to build a future-ready infrastructure capable of supporting both consumer broadband services and enterprise digital transformation while strengthening Belgium’s digital economy.
In 2020, Nokia became Orange Belgium’s sole radio access network (RAN) supplier, replacing Huawei equipment as part of the operator’s nationwide 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G modernization.
Nokia rival Ericsson has supplied Orange Belgium’s mobile core network, enabling 5G Non-Standalone (NSA) operation and supporting the evolution to Standalone (SA) 5G.
Nokia said the 1830 PSS portfolio is designed for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), packet optical transport, and Optical Transport Network (OTN) applications. It supports metro-edge, metro, regional, long-haul, broadband backhaul, data center interconnect (DCI), Carrier Ethernet, and wavelength services.
The product family includes the compact 1830 PSS-4II for metro-edge deployments, 1830 PSS-8 and 1830 PSS-16II for metro and regional transport, 1830 PSS-32 for large-scale regional and long-haul networks, and the 1830 PSS-HC, which delivers high-capacity, power-efficient coherent transport for metro, long-haul, and data center interconnect environments.
Nokia said the platform enables operators to maximize fiber utilization using its Photonic Service Engine (PSE) coherent optical technology, integrated CDC-F wavelength routing, C+L-band WDM, and ultra-scalable OTN switching.
Additional capabilities include Carrier Ethernet transport, secure low-latency encrypted wavelength services, advanced multilayer networking algorithms, flexible bandwidth allocation, value-based SLA protection, reduced power consumption, and improved network capacity to meet unpredictable traffic growth driven by AI and cloud applications.
SHAFANA FAZAL
