SDN Communications Selects Nokia to prepare for 5G services

Nokia has announced that its Network Services Platform (NSP) has been selected by SDN Communications, a business-to-business broadband service provider in the South Dakota and southern Minnesota region, to provide dynamic control and management of SDN’s services throughout its IP and optical networks.

Nokia’s solution will help drive efficient operations and enhanced service quality, using multi-layer coordination to enable SDN to quickly respond to fast-changing customer demands like the eventual rollout of 5G services.

The Nokia NSP is the industry’s most comprehensive software defined networking platform for multi-layer, cross-domain and multi-vendor management of IP routing and optical transport assets. It unifies service automation, network optimization and assurance in a single integrated software platform so that service providers like SDN Communications can deliver on-demand network services quickly, cost effectively and at great scale.

With the Nokia NSP, operating costs are reduced because it is a single, powerful management and control platform that supports common tools and practices across and between IP and optical network layers and network domains. Its flexible, modular and programmable approach also helps service providers quickly respond and adapt to changing subscriber demands. And, its open interfaces simplify integration into the existing environment to enable faster deployment and service rollouts like 5G.

The Nokia NSP ensures a high quality experience for every user and application by providing tools, operating at multiple layers, to visualize, analyze and troubleshoot the network. Root causes of issues can be established and resolved quickly. Often the network can be proactively reconfigured before a problem causes service degradation.

Mark Shlanta, CEO for SDN Communications, said: “SDN has long been a Nokia IP core and edge router customer and, most recently, we have expanded the work to include the deployment of a next-generation Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing network based on the Nokia 1830 Photonic Service Switch platform. We have a strong investment in caring for our network, and Nokia was an ideal choice to work with us to visualize, coordinate and automate our multi-layer IP and optical network through their Network Services Platform.”

Sasa Nijemcevic, Head of Network Automation for Nokia’s IP/Optical Networks business, said: “In modernizing SDN’s IP and optical network, the most important requirements were to reduce operation expenditures, improve network resilience and enhance their customers’ experience. Multi-layer coordination functions allow SDN to have a deeper understanding of areas in the network that need to be addressed, resulting in improved network robustness, reduced costs and increased customer satisfaction.”