The government of Poland has granted a tender for the design, construction, and operation of GPON fiber broadband networks to Nokia and Infracapital, the infrastructure arm of M&G Investments, according to the systems house. The tender covers deployment of fiber-optic access networks in 12 under-served areas of the country, mostly in the northern and central regions. Nokia says capex for the project will run to approximately 300 million euros ($335.6 million).
The fiber broadband networks will connect more than 400,000 homes and approximately 2,500 schools in the largely rural provinces of Lodzkie, Swietokrzyskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie, and Warminsko-Mazurskie. The fiber infrastructure, which will be operated as a wholesale open access network, will use the GPON access technology to support broadband services of 100 Mbps. The network will be ready to deliver services in 2018, according to Nokia.
The fiber access network deployment is a Ministry of Digitalization program subsidized partly by European Union (EU) grants under the EU Digital Agenda 2020 program. The program aims to support delivery of 30-Mbps fiber broadband services delivery to all EU citizens and at least 100 Mbps to 50% of EU citizens by 2020.
Nokia will supply its 7360 Intelligent Service Access Manager (ISAM) FX, the new Nokia 7362 ISAM DF small form factor fiber access platform, and the 7368 ISAM ONT. The network also will benefit from the Nokia 5520 Access Management System and the Nokia Network Analyzer, a fiber operational support platform. Nokia also will supply a variety of professional and maintenance services. The company will be responsible for project management, planning, design, and deployment of both the broadband and PON infrastructure.
Nokia and Infracapital expect to sign an agreement to add a 13th region to the tender in July.
For more related articles, visit the FTTx Topic Center.
For more information on FTTx technology and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer's Guide.