Why Nokia Is Extending Manufacturing of Fibre Broadband Components to India

Telecom equipment maker Nokia on Thursday said it will extend manufacturing of PON optical line terminals (OLTs) to its factory in Sriperimbudur near Chennai to cater to rising demand from local customers in India and global markets. PON stands for Passive Optical Network.

In a statement announcing the latest move, Nokia said shifts in consumer behaviour, from home working 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 fibre connectivity,” according to the company.

Nokia is currently a participant in the government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and is extending its production capacity into Chennai in response to growing demand.

Demand for fibre is also shifting to new regions with the Asia-Pacific region witnessing strong demand in markets like Japan, India and Southeast Asia.

Much of this demand will be seen in the form of fibre to the home (FTTH) but there is also significant demand from mobile network operators (MNOs) as they deploy 5G and need next-generation fibre in their transport networks to carry the expected surge 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 the India Market at Nokia, observed that India is seeing massive demand for fibre 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,” Malik added.