Telefonica awards Nokia additional Fusion Network role

On the heels of awarding Juniper Networks a follow-on contract to expand its role in the carrier's Spanish network upgrade initiative, Fusión Network (Fusión Red; see "Telefonica to add Juniper Networks routers to Fusion Network core"), Telefónica has done the same with the program's other major supplier, Nokia. Nokia will supply both hardware-based routers as well as virtualized routing technology.

Fusión Red aims to upgrade Telefónica's IP metro and core network capabilities to enable improved service to its residential, mobile, and business services customers over a converged network. In August 2015, Alcatel-Lucent, now part of Nokia, revealed it would supply its 7950 Extensible Routing System, the 7450 Ethernet Service Switch (7450 ESS-MM), and the 7750 Service Router (7750 SR-12) to the project. It also said it would provide the 5620 Service Aware Manager (SAM) to oversee these platforms.

Nokia now says it has received an additional contract award to supply more 7950 XRS core routers as well as elements of its virtualized router portfolio, specifically the Nokia VSR - Route Reflector (VSR-RR). The VSR-RR, as its name implies, enables virtualized route reflection for Internet and Layer 2 and Layer 3 virtual private network (VPN) applications. The Nokia 5650 Control Plane Assurance Manager (CPAM) – designed to minimize control plane misconfigurations, malfunctions, and undetected routing updates – will provide management oversight alongside the 5620 SAM.

"As we ramp up our video and high-bandwidth data service offers we are committed to delivering the best possible quality of experience for our customers," said Joaquín Mata, network technology and operations director at Telefónica Spain. "We continue to rely on Nokia to evolve our IP core network with industry-leading virtualization and core router technology to address our needs today and for the next generation services of tomorrow."

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