Infinera
Nokia selects Intel’s Justin Hotard as new CEO to increase growth in IP networking and data center connections
Nokia today announced that their President and Chief Executive Officer, Pekka Lundmark will be replaced on April 1st by 50 year old Justin Hotard who currently leads Intel’s Data Center & AI Group. Hotard joins Nokia with more than 25 years’ experience with global technology companies, driving innovation, technology leadership and delivering revenue growth. Prior to Intel, he held several leadership roles at large technology companies, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise (more below) and NCR Corporation. He will be based at Nokia’s headquarters in Espoo, Finland.
“Leading Nokia has been a privilege. When I returned to Nokia in 2020, I called it a homecoming, and it really has felt like one. I am proud of the work our brilliant team has done in re-establishing our technology leadership and competitiveness, and positioning the company for growth in data centers, private wireless and industrial edge, and defense. This is the right time for me to move on. I have led listed companies for more than two decades and although I do not plan to stop working, I want to move on from executive roles to work in a different capacity, such as a board professional. Justin is a great choice for Nokia and I look forward to working with him on a smooth transition,” said Nokia’s President and CEO Pekka Lundmark.
“I am delighted to welcome Justin to Nokia. He has a strong track record of accelerating growth in technology companies along with vast expertise in AI and data center markets, which are critical areas for Nokia’s future growth. In his previous positions, and throughout the selection process, he has demonstrated the strategic insight, vision, leadership and value creation mindset required for a CEO of Nokia,” said Sari Baldauf, Chair of Nokia’s Board of Directors.
“I am honored by the opportunity to lead Nokia, a global leader in connectivity with a unique heritage in technology. Networks are the backbone that power society and businesses, and enable generational technology shifts like the one we are currently experiencing in AI. I am excited to get started and look forward to continuing Nokia’s transformation journey to maximize its potential for growth and value creation,” said Justin Hotard.
Rumors started to swirl in September, after a report in the Financial Times newspaper, that Nokia was seeking a replacement for Lundmark, who by then had been its CEO for about four years. Nokia said in a statement: “The Board fully supports President and CEO Pekka Lundmark and is not undergoing a process to replace him.”
–>How seriously should the FT and all other media now take the company’s public statements?
Lundmark had told Nokia’s board months earlier, in the spring of 2024, that he would consider stepping down once “the repositioning of the business was in a more advanced stage.” This author certainly does not think that “advanced stage” has been reached yet. “The current CEO has not got to grips with the growth problem. The top line has not increased since the Alcatel-Lucent takeover,” said a shareholder.
Nokia’s share price is now only 10% of its peak $260 Billion valuation in 2000 peak (that’s a 90% decline in price over almost 25 years- buy and hold?). However, the company has gained almost 40% in the last year after operational improvements and signs that construction of AI data centers could be a significant growth opportunity for Nokia’s network infrastructure business group, its second-biggest unit. In his leaving video, Lundmark drew attention to the sales growth rate of 9% for the final quarter of 2024 and the operating margin of 19.1%, Nokia’s best in a decade.
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“We’re at the start of a super cycle with AI,” said Hotard. “One that I see [as] very similar to the one we saw a couple of decades ago with the internet. In these major market transitions new winners are created and incumbents either reinvent themselves or fail… My focus will be to accelerate the transformation journey.”
During the Nokia conference call Q&A Hotard was defensive to questions about his plans for the company. He did say that networking comes second only to compute hardware when it comes to share of AI datacenter investment and he looks forward to the completion of the $2.1 billion Infinera acquisition. “The hundreds of billions of dollars being invested in data centers today from a technology standpoint of course start with compute accelerators and GPUs [graphical processing units], but the second thing is the network and the connectivity and further it is not just the connectivity inside the data center but the connectivity across data centers,” said Hotard on today’s call. That implies an increased emphasis Nokia will place on optical networking within and between data centers.
Indeed, IP networking and data center connectivity are becoming a fast-growing part of Nokia’s network infrastructure unit that provides the connectivity inside those data centers, recently landing deals with Microsoft and UK-headquartered Nscale. The hoped-for return is an additional €1 billion ($1.03 billion) in revenues by 2028. The Infinera acquisition, announced in June 2024 and expected to be finalized in the next few weeks, is also partly a data center play, bolstering Nokia’s portfolio of optical networking assets.
On Nokia’s Q3 2024 earnings call in October, Lundmark said, “Across Nokia, we are investing to create new growth opportunities outside of our traditional communications service provider market. We see a significant opportunity to expand our presence in the data center market and are investing to broaden our product portfolio in IP Networks to better address this. There will be others as well, but that will be the number one. This is obviously in the very core of our strategy.” At that time, Lundmark said Nokia’s telco total addressable market (TAM) is €84 billion, while its data center total addressable market is currently at €20 billion. “I mean, telco TAM will never be a significant growth market,” he added to no one’s surprise.
On today’s call, Lundmark drew attention to its revival and strength when asked to compare Nokia with Ericsson. “Of course, we respect them as a competitor in radio networks. We are slightly behind them in terms of market share, but we have had great deal momentum recently – you’ll have seen some of the deal announcements – and, very importantly, the feedback we are receiving from our customers is that we are now fully competitive in terms of our portfolio.”
Justin Hotard, slated to be Nokia’s new boss on April 1, 2025
During the past year Hotard has headed up Intel’s Datacenter & AI Group. Prior to that he was at HPE for nine years heading up the High Performance Computing, AI & Labs group.
“Networks are the backbone that power society and businesses, and enable generational technology shifts like the one we are currently experiencing in AI. I am excited to get started and look forward to continuing Nokia’s transformation journey to maximize its potential for growth and value creation,” said Justin Hotard.
What will Hotard led Nokia’s future commitment be to a shrinking market for mobile networks? Revenues generated by the global mobile market are estimated to have fallen about $5 billion last year, to $35 billion, after a $5 billion drop in 2023, according to Omdia (an Informa owned market research firm), as network operators cut spending. But an exit would rid Nokia of a business still responsible for 40% of total sales just as smaller rivals appear to be struggling.
Nokia seems to value Hotard’s U.S. background and experience in the data center and AI market. “If you look at the market and look at the world, the U.S. is an important market for us and so that is one element we consider – experience from that technology business there,” said Sari Baldauf, Nokia’s chair, when asked on today’s call why an external candidate was preferred to an internal appointment.
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Telecoms.com Scott Bicheno offered his opinion: “Hotard reckons Nokia’s telco customer base gives it an advantage when it comes to AI datacenters, which are increasingly built near to sources of power, often in remote locations. So, while this does feel like a promising strategic pivot for Nokia, those telco customers might be worried about mobile being deprioritized as a consequence. The appointment of someone from a company with an appalling track record in that sector is unlikely to ease that concern.”
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References:
https://www.telecoms.com/ai/nokia-signals-a-move-away-from-mobile-and-europe-with-new-ceo
https://www.ft.com/content/5f086aee-91b9-421a-9f32-c33e67b1af7f
Initiatives and Analysis: Nokia focuses on data centers as its top growth market
Nokia to acquire Infinera for $2.3 billion, boosting optical network division size by 75%
Infinera, DZS, and Calnex Successfully Demonstrate 5G Mobile xHaul with Open XR
Infinera announced today a successful multi-vendor demonstration of 5G mobile broadband xHaul using coherent open XR optics point-to-multipoint optical transmission. The multi-vendor interoperability testing, conducted with DZS and Calnex, represents a key step toward enabling mobile operators to greatly simplify and cost-reduce 5G and next-generation mobile transport network rollouts through the reduction of the number of optical transceivers, resulting in significant total cost of ownership savings.
Hosted in the European Open Test & Integration Center in Torino by TIM, the high-capacity xHaul application testing included fronthaul, midhaul, and backhaul transport scenarios with XR-based coherent pluggable optics deployed in third-party hosts supporting point-to-point and point-to-multipoint optical transmission. Results of the performance testing included successful demonstration of xHaul synchronization and timing distribution in a point-to-multipoint optical transport architecture.
“It is not only the significant bandwidth demands of 5G that create challenges for mobile operators, but also the fundamental misalignment between actual 5G network traffic patterns and the underlying transport technology,” said Ron Johnson, SVP and General Manager, Optical Subsystems and Global Engineering Group, Infinera. “Working in close collaboration with industry-leading mobile operators such as TIM, this testing validates the critical role that XR optics innovation can play in transforming the economics of 5G transport and paving the way for efficient 6G networks.”
Equipment used in the interoperable xHaul testing included Infinera ICE-X intelligent coherent pluggables, the DZS Saber 2200, and Calnex Paragon-NEO. Part of the work carried out by TIM and Infinera was supported by the EU project ALLEGRO, GA No. 101092766.
About DZS:
DZS (Nasdaq: DZSI) is a developer of Network Edge, Connectivity and Cloud Software solutions enabling broadband everywhere.
About Infinera:
Infinera is a global supplier of innovative open optical networking solutions and advanced optical semiconductors that enable carriers, cloud operators, governments, and enterprises to scale network bandwidth, accelerate service innovation, and automate network operations. Infinera solutions deliver industry-leading economics and performance in long-haul, submarine, data center interconnect, and metro transport applications. To learn more about Infinera, visit www.infinera.com, follow us on X and LinkedIn, and subscribe for updates.
References:
Telenor Deploys 5G xHaul Transport Network from Cisco and NEC; xHaul & ITU-T G.8300 Explained
Orange Deploys Infinera’s GX Series to Power AMITIE Subsea Cable
Infinera trial for Telstra InfraCo’s intercity fiber project delivered 61.3 Tbps between Melbourne and Sydney, Australia
Fiber Build-Out Boom Update: GTT & Ziply Fiber, Infinera in Louisiana, Bluebird Network in Illinois
Orange Deploys Infinera’s GX Series to Power AMITIE Subsea Cable
Optical network equipment maker Infinera announced today that Orange deployed Infinera’s GX Series-based ICE6 “coherent optical engine” on its new AMITIE subsea cable, which is ready for service today from an end-to-end point of view and offers network operators unique and robust transatlantic connectivity with ultra-low latency.
Orange owns two pairs of fiber optic cables as part of the AMITIE subsea cable system, offering capacity up to 23 Tbp/s each.
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Orange selected Infinera’s solution based on its industry-leading optical performance to offer up to 400 GbE services to its customers from the U.S. to France, and across its long-haul terrestrial backhaul network from Boston to New York and Le Porge to Bordeaux in France.
The sixth-generation Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE6), from Infinera’s Advanced Coherent Optical Engines and Subsystems, is a 1.6 Tb/s optical engine that delivers two independently programmable wavelengths at up to 800 Gb/s each. Utilizing a 7-nm CMOS process node DSP and advanced PIC technology, ICE6 leverages ultra-high baud rates, high modem SNR, and innovative features to break performance and spectral efficiency barriers, including 800G single-wavelength performance over 1000+ km in a commercial network.
Infinera’s ICE6- 800G Generation Optical Engine Photo credit: Infinera
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Orange powers fully resilient global connectivity capability along the world’s busiest route, using two state-of-the-art subsea mega cables, Dunant and AMITIE, to connect France and the U.S. Deploying Infinera’s innovative ICE6 technology on the GX Series Compact Modular Platform enables Orange to keep pace with future generations of optical transmission technologies while maintaining a high level of performance for the next 20 years. This deployment also significantly reduces Orange’s energy cost per megabit and minimizes its carbon footprint.
“We are pleased to integrate Infinera’s industry-leading technology for the first time on one of our key transatlantic routes and terrestrial backhaul. With this future-proof technology, Orange is well-positioned to continue to be a major player in the global wholesale market, developing our infrastructure to connect continents together and delivering a unique, high-performance, and robust solution to our customers,” said Aurélien Vigano, VP International Transmission Network at Orange.
“Infinera is delighted to partner with Orange to deliver our innovative ICE6 solution across Orange’s critical subsea and terrestrial backhaul routes, offering network operators, wholesale carriers, and enterprise customers resilient and reliable global connectivity capability,” said Nick Walden, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Infinera.
References:
https://www.infinera.com/innovation/ice6-800g-wavelengths/
Infinera trial for Telstra InfraCo’s intercity fiber project delivered 61.3 Tbps between Melbourne and Sydney, Australia
Orange Telco Cloud to use Equinix Bare Metal to deliver virtual services with <10 ms latency
Infinera trial for Telstra InfraCo’s intercity fiber project delivered 61.3 Tbps between Melbourne and Sydney, Australia
Infinera has completed a simulated intercity network trial for Telstra InfraCo’s intercity fiber project in Australia. The trial delivered 61.3 Tbps of unregenerated data transmission capacity on a fiber pair over the equivalent of 1,240 route km between Melbourne and Sydney, Australia. The network trial was implemented using Infinera’s 800G-capable ICE6 coherent solution [1.] and Corning Incorporated’s SMF-28® ULL fiber with advanced bend, demonstrating the high-performance capability of the express network, which is part of the intercity fiber network Telstra InfraCo is building across Australia.
Note 1. The sixth-generation Infinite Capacity Engine (ICE6), from Infinera’s Advanced Coherent Optical Engines and Subsystems, is a 1.6 Tb/s optical engine that delivers two independently programmable wavelengths at up to 800 Gb/s each. Utilizing a 7-nm CMOS process node DSP and advanced PIC technology, ICE6 leverages ultra-high baud rates, high modem SNR, and innovative features to break performance and spectral efficiency barriers, including 800G single-wavelength performance over 1000+ km in a commercial network. ICE6 is also beating optical transmission expectations at lower rates, including 600 Gb/s and 400 Gb/s per wavelength.
Image Credit: Infinera
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The trial was performed with real-world configurations, including 1,240 kilometers of ultra-low-loss fiber simulating one of Telstra InfraCo’s planned express Melbourne-Sydney routes. Infinera performed an in-service, non-traffic-impacting upgrade from C-band to combined C-band plus L-band as part of the capacity expansion process. With Infinera’s ICE6 and Corning’s optical fiber, Telstra InfraCo achieved 61.3 Tbps total capacity with 6.2 milliseconds latency across the combined C-band and L-band, with wavelengths up to 700 Gbps.
Telstra InfraCo’s express network is designed to be a high-performance national network for customers who need reliable, ultra-high bandwidth between capital cities and international submarine cable landing stations. For hyperscalers, global cloud providers, content companies, and governments, this means access to scalable high capacity and more direct routes, with optional route redundancy.
“Based on these results, Telstra InfraCo’s express network and overall intercity fiber build will lead the world in scale, low latency, and high data transmission performance rate,” said Kathryn Jones, Fiber Executive at Telstra InfraCo. “The simulation exceeds our expectations, offering almost seven times today’s typical capacity of 8.8 Tbps per fibre pair and validates our selection of Corning’s SMF-28 ULL fiber in the cable design. This will enable Telstra to develop market-leading solutions for our customers today and for years to come – a key element of Telstra’s ambitious T25 strategy and transformation goals.”
“To meet the rigorous demands of a vast network over Australia’s unique terrain, Telstra InfraCo needed fiber infrastructure with advanced bend capability and minimal signal loss to deliver ultra-high cable capacity. That’s why they turned to Corning,” said Sharon Bois, Division Vice President, Product Line and Marketing, Corning Optical Fiber and Cable. “Our SMF-28® ULL fiber with advanced bend is designed to meet exactly those needs.”
“Infinera’s 800G-capable ICE6 solution demonstrated industry-leading performance, maximizing fiber capacity and reach on Telstra InfraCo’s express network configuration,” said Nick Walden, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Infinera. “This achievement underscores the enhanced performance Infinera’s technology can bring to meet Telstra InfraCo’s express network requirements for bandwidth today and into the future.”
Media Contact:
Anna Vue
Tel. +1 (916) 595-8157
[email protected]
Referencs:
Fiber Build-Out Boom Update: GTT & Ziply Fiber, Infinera in Louisiana, Bluebird Network in Illinois
Fiber Build-Out Boom Update: GTT & Ziply Fiber, Infinera in Louisiana, Bluebird Network in Illinois
This week GTT Communications, Infinera, and Bluebird Network all announced network expansions within the U.S. The various announcements follow AT&T’s deal last month with venture capital firm BlackRock to deploy a multi-gigabit fiber network to 1.5 million customer locations using a commercial open access platform.
GTT Communications, Inc., a leading global provider of managed network and security services to multinational organizations, has announced that it has expanded its partnership with Ziply Fiber, a provider of fiber networks purpose-built for the internet, to establish a new network Point of Presence (PoP) to serve the fast-growing data center market in Portland, Oregon. The two companies linked in hopes to “serve the fast-growing data center market” in the city, according to the announcement.
The new PoP is providing an initial 400G of capacity to customers in the U.S. Pacific Northwest region and will expand the power of GTT’s global Tier 1 IP network by offering an additional option for customers to connect in 11 major data centers and the Hillsboro subsea cable landing station, expanding the reach of GTT via Ziply Fiber’s high-count Silicon Forest fiber cross connection service.
“We are pleased to expand our partnership with GTT to establish a new network PoP in Portland to help customers in the region and beyond to connect to area data centers as well as other geographies,” said Mike Daniel, vice president of Enterprise Sales at Ziply Fiber. “Our regional fiber network, combined with GTT’s global Tier 1 network and suite of leading managed networking and security services, will give enterprises new options to improve connectivity securely and reliably.”
GTT’s global Tier 1 IP backbone is ranked among the largest in the industry1 and connects more than 260 cities on six continents. With the addition of the new Portland PoP, GTT customers in the region can benefit from the improved connectivity, security and scalability available through GTT’s suite of managed connectivity services.
Ziply Fiber’s network was architected to meet today’s increasing digital demands and was engineered to be fully redundant, with a dual infrastructure that maintains customer connections even when issues arise. Ziply Fiber maintains a four-state footprint in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana and has built redundancies into its network to avoid service interruptions, while updating routing to steer clear of congestion across the broader internet. This ensures content is accessible directly on the fiber backbone and can be accessed more quickly.
“This new PoP deployment creates an exciting opportunity to use the Ziply Fiber network to allow our regional data center customers to easily connect to and take advantage of GTT’s global Tier 1 IP network and our full suite of managed services offerings,” said Jim Delis, president, Americas Division, GTT. “Our work with Ziply Fiber demonstrates GTT’s continued focus on investment to expand the reach of our network for customers with locations in the Pacific Northwest.”
GTT will offer additional customer options to connect in 11 data centers and the Hillsboro subsea cable landing station. Jim Delis, president for GTT’s Americas Division, stated the PoP deployment will enable the network provider’s data center customers to link into its tier-one IP network.
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Infinera announced today that the Louisiana Board of Regents, acting on behalf of the statewide Louisiana Optical Network Infrastructure (LONI) and the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University (LSU) and Agricultural and Mechanical College, has selected and deployed Infinera’s advanced coherent optical networking solutions to upgrade LONI. Also announced today is the initial deployment of four 400G optical channels along a 220-mile intrastate route in Louisiana.
LONI connects 38 university campuses and data centers and provides connectivity to additional research and education networks in other states. The solution, which increases LONI’s network capacity by a factor of 10, comprises Infinera’s XTM Series open line system and GX Series transponders. The upgraded network expands the ability for the research and education community to share and access information, resources, and remote instruments in real time.
LONI promotes scientific computing and technology across Louisiana and is the backbone infrastructure to the state’s heroic research efforts. These efforts are made possible by utilizing cutting-edge technology to push the limits of scientific discovery at leading university campuses and achievable with LONI’s high-bandwidth optical network. Infinera’s XTM Series line system coupled with GX Series high-performance transponders equips LONI with a 200G/400G/600G solution that offers unmatched high-bandwidth services to its customers today and is scalable to 800G in the future. Infinera’s combined solution delivers superior performance, increasing LONI’s service offering with more bandwidth, greater flexibility, and faster data transfer capabilities.
“A high-capacity state-of-the-art network is critical to enabling breakthrough discoveries that can only be achieved through multi-site collaboration and cloud connectivity,” said Lonnie Leger, LONI’s Executive Director. “We are committed to offering our members up to 100G and deploying Infinera’s innovative solutions, which exceeded both our expectations and commitment, enabling us to exceed what other state universities can offer.”
“LONI operates with a small staff, which requires a highly automated network and cost-effective solution that enables them to meet their bandwidth growth requirements,” said Nick Walden, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales, Infinera. “The Infinera team worked closely with LONI to deliver a solution that met their needs now and positions them to meet future bandwidth needs with minimal maintenance and manpower to operate.”
“As bandwidth continues its relentless growth driven by new high-speed applications such as 5G, [augmented reality], [virtual reality], and cloud services, legacy copper-based networks – such as DSL and cable – are simply not capable [of] meeting the bandwidth requirements,” Robert Shore, SVP of marketing at Infinera, told SDxCentral.
Shore added that the current fiber boom “reinforces Infinera’s focus on continuing to innovate and manufacture optical transport solutions that can help network operators effectively leverage their fiber deployments from the core of their network all the way to the very edge.”
Infinera also announced that its ICE6 solution was deployed along the trans-Pacific Unity Submarine Cable System connecting Japan and the U.S., doubling the capacity of that connection.
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Bluebird Network completed a 126-mile fiber buildout in Illinois. The route connects the towns of Aurora, Dixon, DeKalb, Sterling, and Rock Falls to Bluebird’s network and services, and provides a “diverse route” to Chicago, the company stated.
Bluebird’s management noted the deployment builds on its recently acquired middle-mile fiber network assets from Missouri Telecom, and expansion into Salina, Kansas, and Waterloo, Iowa.
“Bluebird has no plans to slow down its fiber expansions any time soon,” Bluebird Network President and CEO Michael Morey stated in the release tied to its Kansas and Iowa expansion. “To foster even more growth and strengthen connectivity for businesses in the Midwest, we have builds underway for additional expansions coming online this summer.”
Those moves come on the heels of the AT&T/BlackRock JV that is looking to deploy fiber to more than 30 million locations within AT&T’s 21-state wireline footprint by the end of 2025, and positions the newly created Gigapower entity to boost its reach outside of those initial 21 states.
The deal also prompted a predication from Analysys Mason, saying the move further indicates “that the [U.S.] wireline market is entering a period of profound transformation that will leave it more aligned with the market structures seen in Europe.”
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References:
https://www.sdxcentral.com/articles/news/us-fiber-build-booms/2023/01/
AT&T and BlackRock’s Gigapower fiber JV may alter the U.S. broadband landscape
North American Cloud and Traditional Telco CapEx Drops in 4th Quarter 2020
Subhead: Exceptional 4Q Cloud & Colo Operator Spending in APAC
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More Key Findings from the 4Q20 Transport Customer Markets Report:
Separately, Cignal AI said on March 16th that Ciena’s revenue decline this quarter was steeper than forecast, but the company is poised to grow revenues based on the success of its WaveLogic 5e fifth generation coherent technology. On March 2nd, Cignal AI said that Infinera originally expected its ICE6 technology to enter the market in the second half of 2020. The company’s current guidance now indicates a 2H21 arrival. Infinera reports a strong order pipeline, but has not specified exactly when the first ICE6 will ship for revenue. About the Transport Customer Markets Report:
About Cignal AI:
References:https://cignal.ai/opteq-hw-dashboard/https://cignal.ai/free-articles/
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