PTCL and Nokia build Pakistan’s first 200G optical network

Pakistan Telecommunication (PTCL) has deployed Nokia’s technology to expand the capacity of recently installed 100G transport networks to 200G optical networks for both domestic and international traffic.

This capacity expansion has been carried out in the major cities of Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi to keep pace with the growing demands of capacity created by ever-increasing consumption of broadband by individuals as well as enterprises.

With this, PTCL becomes the first operator in Pakistan to deploy high-performance 200G 8 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) in the country, an optical long-haul technology offering more capacity at a lower cost.

The up-gradation of its optical network allows PTCL to proactively address the growing demands of bandwidth, enabling its enterprise and individual users in Pakistan’s largest cities to use high-bandwidth services and applications such as HD and 4K video.

In addition, the network up-gradation allows PTCL to flexibly enhance network capacity with the Software Defined Network (SDN) capabilities of the Nokia optical solution. Further, the unique flex grid technology allows PTCL to easily upgrade to 300G or 400G in the future over the same installed base.

Saad Muzaffar Waraich, Chief Technology & Information Officer, PTCL, said: “Being consistently a top-class service provider involves continuously modernizing and upgrading the network as per the changing consumption patterns.

In view of this, we have enhanced the existing capacity from 100G optical network to 200G to take care of the growing traffic in these cities. Nokia’s technology and expertise helped us to deploy 100G and enhance customer experience, so its 200G technology is also the right choice for expanding network capacity.”

Carlo Corti, Director of the Optics Business Development, MEA, Nokia, said: “Our field-proven technology enables PTCL, in its unwavering commitment, to provide the best-in-class network experience to its subscribers.

It allows PTCL to differentiate its services based on quality. With our 200G technology, PTCL is now in a position to cost-efficiently address the ever-growing demand for capacity.”

Overview of the solution deployed:

Nokia 1830 PSS allows service providers to deploy services quickly and to maximize network capacity and efficiency.

By using PTCL’s extensive fiber footprint, Nokia DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) network provides multipath redundancy against multiple fiber cuts hence ensuring higher network availability SLAs.

Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexers (ROADMs) technology helps service providers to meet an unpredictable increase in traffic.

8-QAM increases spectral efficiency allowing service providers, like PTCL, to maximize the available resources. QAM is a method of combining two amplitude-modulated (AM) signals into a single channel, thereby increasing the effective bandwidth twofold.

Nokia’s full turnkey services including network design, planning and optimization, project management of site acquisition, civil work construction, and network implementation were used to deploy the network.