Nokia has announced a strategic contract with E.ON SE, one of Europe’s largest energy companies, to modernize its mission-critical communications infrastructure. The renewal starts across Germany and creates an optimized, highly automated telecommunications network for distribution system operators (DSO), which can be a model for other E.ON affiliates in Europe.
E.ON plays a key role in Germany’s energy transition. Its distribution grid already connects 1.4 million renewable energy plants, hence making the performance, flexibility and sustainability of its communications infrastructure critical. A key pillar, among others, is the IP, optical and fixed access part of its DSO telecommunications network.
With the new Nokia-powered network and its market leading chipsets, E.ON will benefit from significantly reduced energy consumption of up to 50% compared to its existing IP and optical infrastructure, while improving scalability, operational flexibility, responsiveness, and service continuity. Nokia’s fixed access fiber solutions offer a future-proof, flexible alternative that is easy to upgrade to 25G PON and beyond.
The new infrastructure will enhance both security and resilience, aligning with KRITIS (critical infrastructure) requirements and increasing E.ON’s ability to respond quickly to service incidents without interruption. Nokia’s full-stack delivery across optical, IP and fiber domains also lays the foundation for future advancements, including support for quantum-safe networks.
Lars Ramelow, Head of Supply Chain, Grid Communication Infrastructure, E.ON Group, commented, “Modernizing our network and harmonizing our technical infrastructure is a crucial move to ensure E.ON Group continues to deliver secure, reliable and energy-efficient services across Europe. We’re investing in a next-generation telecommunications network that is ready for future demands operationally, technologically and environmentally. Nokia is a trusted long-term supplier, and its ability to support our network makes it the right choice as we scale our digital transformation.”
Eleftherios Papadopoulos, Managing Director, Germany, Nokia, said, “Our long-standing relationship with E.ON reflects a shared commitment to building secure, efficient and future-ready networks. As a European company with global reach, Nokia brings the scale, security standards and domain expertise needed to support critical national infrastructure. What sets this project apart is the ability to deliver across all key domains as a single vendor. That end-to-end capability, combined with high-quality platforms and proven experience in mission-critical environments and telecommunications, perfectly positions us to enable E.ON to digitize its grids in Germany.”
Under the agreement, Nokia will deliver the full suite of next-generation networking solutions to E.ON, including IP routing and switching, optical transport, fixed broadband access (XGS-PON) and Nokia’s wide range of industry-leading network automation solutions.
