Nokia has completed the modernization of RailTel Corporation’s optical transport networks in India, used for national rail transport and metro networks. The project aims to increase capacity, improve resilience, and reduce operating costs amid growing demand for high-speed connectivity.
The upgrade included the national long-distance (NLD) optical transport network, based on DWDM technologies, as well as subway optical transport networks. The implementation was carried out in collaboration with Nokia’s authorized partners and involved reusing RailTel’s existing infrastructure, including previously unused spectrum channels.
Increased capacity and operational efficiency
The new architecture is based on Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) platform and advanced transponder technologies, enabling significant increases in transport capacity and reductions in cost per bit. At the same time, high-capacity Lambda transmissions and dedicated express traffic lanes between cities were introduced, with a direct impact on network performance.
The project adopts an open, vendor-neutral approach designed to support innovation and future technological developments within RailTel’s optical infrastructure.
IP integration for commercial and internal services
In parallel, RailTel has implemented Nokia’s 7750 Service Router (SR) routers, integrated with Broadband Network Gateway (BNG) and Carrier-Grade NAT (CG-NAT) functions. The unified architecture enables efficient support for high-speed traffic for enterprise customers, along with internal ISP services, increasing intercity traffic resilience and meeting growing bandwidth requirements.
“This collaboration is an essential step in modernizing our BNG, CG-NAT, and optical transport systems. By integrating Nokia‘s advanced technologies with our existing infrastructure, we are positioned to achieve a high level of efficiency. These enhancements will enable us to deliver faster, more reliable, and higher-quality services to our enterprise and broadband customers across India,” said Sanjai Kumar, President and CEO of RailTel.
A pillar of the digital railway infrastructure
RailTel is one of India’s leading neutral telecom infrastructure companies and a Navratna (Category I) public enterprise under the Ministry of Railways.
The company operates a fiber optic network of over 64,000 km and two Tier III certified data centers, and is a key player in national projects such as BharatNet and National Knowledge Network.
RailTel has also helped transform over 6,100 railway stations into digital hubs through public Wi-Fi services.
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