Elisa Taps Juniper to Launch 800ZR Coherent Services in Finland

Juniper’s coherent networking solutions enhance Elisa’s network performance, scale and flexibility in a sustainable way, while assuring the best user experiences now and into the future.

Juniper Networks®, an enabler in secure, AI-Native Networking, and Finnish telecom and digital service provider Elisa Oyj has announced the world’s first deployment of 800Gbps Ethernet services over 800ZR coherent transceivers. Elisa is deploying 800Gbps technology within its backbone network, enhancing the development of mobile and optical fiber networks in Finland. The first deployment is in the Helsinki metropolitan area’s backbone network, using Juniper Networks™ PTX Series Routers and an early release of Juniper’s JCO800 coherent optics. Developing and future-proofing the backbone network is crucial, as it lays the foundation for expanding a more sustainable, robust, scalable and capable mobile and optical fiber network throughout Finland.

Elisa provides a range of digital services, including mobile and fixed network connections, information and communications technology (ICT) and online services. It serves both consumer and corporate customers, with operations primarily in Finland and Estonia, while expanding its digital services globally. As a market leader in Finland, Elisa is known for its innovation in 5G and digital solutions and is planning to develop its fiber network capacity towards 100G speeds in the upcoming years.

By pioneering 800G coherent deployments, Elisa will significantly increase the capacity of individual backbone fiber. A robust backbone network will allow Elisa to meet customers' rising data demands for several years to come. The backbone network is also crucial to Finland's access to secure transport, linking the country to international networks. It is essential for maintaining reliable access to global communication and data exchange channels and ensures that critical digital services, information flows and cross-border data exchanges remain stable and resilient.

“The enormous success of 400ZR/ZR+ pluggables has ignited widespread industry demand for IP-over-DWDM solutions, which are transforming the way that networks are designed and implemented. IP-over-DWDM’s potential to create lower cost, higher efficiency networks has stirred enthusiasm for the next generation of coherent pluggables, including 100ZR QSFP28 and 800ZR/ZR+ QSPF-DD. Elisa’s pioneering 800ZR collaboration with Juniper Networks is a proof point that will encourage wider adoption of standards-based 800G coherent pluggables in IP-over-DWDM networks," said, Scott Wilkinson, Lead Analyst Optical Components, Cignal AI.

"Elisa is delighted to collaborate with Juniper to prepare Elisa's backbone network to meet the growing needs of its customers, now and in the future. This 800G coherent backbone connection allows us to increase the speeds and capacity of our optical fibre and mobile networks. As AI and cloudification progress, more and more data will be transferred between data centres, requiring us to continuously develop our backbone network," commented, Kalle Lehtinen, Chief Technology Officer, Elisa Oyj.

"Juniper is proud to serve Elisa Oyj with our innovative 800G coherent CORA solutions as they lead the way to a truly notable and exciting achievement, the world’s first 800Gbps coherent service deployment. This milestone underscores our shared commitment to advance digital infrastructure throughout the world, while ensuring a robust, sustainable and future-proof network for Finland’s expanding data demands and exacting user expectations," said, Steffen Gienger, Vice President, Service Provider, EMEA, Juniper Networks.