On Tuesday, Nokia announced that it is expanding the manufacturing of fiber optic broadband equipment at its Chennai, India plant.
Telecommunications equipment maker Nokia said Thursday it would expand production of PON Optical Line Terminals (OLTs) at its Sriperimbudur plant near Chennai to meet growing demand from local customers in India and global markets.
In a statement announcing its latest move, Nokia said shifts in consumer behaviour, from telecommuting to data-rich entertainment services, are driving demand for broadband.
“This demand is matched by strong institutional support with significant funding from governments and private equity funds around the world that are driving investments in broadband and fiber connectivity,” according to the company.
Nokia is currently participating in the government’s Production Linked Incentives (PLI) program and is expanding its production capacity in Chennai to meet growing demand.
Fibre demand is also shifting to new regions, with strong demand in markets such as Japan, India, and Southeast Asia in the Asia-Pacific region.
Most of this demand will be in the form of fiber to the home (FTTH), but there is also significant demand from mobile network operators (MNOs) as they roll out 5G and require next-generation fiber optics in transport networks to support the projected transport networks skyrocket in data traffic.
“Nokia’s planned production of PON OLTs in India will give a boost to expand the company’s production base and geographic reach,” it said.
Sanjay Malik, senior vice president and head of India at Nokia, noted that India is seeing huge demand for fiber optic connectivity from 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,” Malik added.
