RailTel and Nokia Advance Optical Modernisation

RailTel and Nokia extend their work on modernising the National Long-Distance network and the metro optical domains as part of a multi-year collaboration. Nokia confirms the upgrade of RailTel’s dense wavelength division multiplexing backbone through a programme carried out with authorised partners. The work includes deploying Carrier-Grade NAT and the metro optical transport network across multiple regions.

RailTel Corporation of India Ltd., a Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Railways, operates a pan-India optical fibre network exceeding 64,000 route kilometres. Its network supports two Tier-III certified data centres.

RailTel was established to modernise railway communications and use right-of-way assets. Over time, it has developed a portfolio that includes MPLS-VPN, telepresence, leased lines, co-location and data centre services for enterprise and government sectors.

It works on national projects such as BharatNet and the National Knowledge Network and provides public Wi-Fi across more than 6,115 railway stations.

Nokia and RailTel are framing the latest phase of their collaboration around traffic growth, operational targets and cost structures across intercity and metro corridors.

Both companies focus on an approach that works within existing fibre and infrastructure conditions while supporting new service models for enterprise, government and internal ISP traffic.

Nokia 1830 PSS and RailTel network integration strategy

The programme centres on Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch platform and transponder technology. The equipment enables increased transport capacity by reusing existing plants and previously unused optical spectrum.

RailTel implements high-capacity lambda transmission and express paths between key city pairs, improving traffic efficiency across the national footprint.

The optical design follows an open, multi-vendor framework that RailTel applies across its network domains. The intention is to create scope for future equipment choices across long-distance and metro layers.

Nokia follows an approach to integrate the 1830 PSS with legacy infrastructure and create a uniform transmission environment across regions.

RailTel positions the upgrade in line with its broader programme to support national digital infrastructure. Its optical network supports government platforms, railway systems and enterprise access services.

The organisation uses the Nokia deployment to meet increasing transport requirements from these sectors without building parallel infrastructure.

Nokia 7750 Service Router roles in the unified RailTel architecture

Alongside the optical work, RailTel incorporates Nokia’s 7750 Service Router and associated Broadband Network Gateway and CG-NAT functions.

It provides a consolidated architecture that supports traffic for enterprise customers and RailTel’s internal ISP operations.

The network setup supports intercity resilience by reducing the number of separate platforms required for routing and service delivery.

The 7750 SR platform brings BNG and CG-NAT capabilities into a single environment, which RailTel uses to manage subscriber traffic, enterprise connections and service aggregation.

The architecture operates across regions where RailTel runs MPLS-VPN and data centre services, enabling a consistent approach to handling large-scale traffic flows.

Nokia’s role is to integrate the routing systems with the upgraded optical domain so that both layers follow a single operational model. It allows RailTel to plan its bandwidth expansion with unified tools and processes.

The organisation sees the combined routing and optical approach as a way to address its long-term investment cycle.

RailTel leadership on Nokia technology deployment

Sanjai Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director of RailTel, states that “This collaboration represents a pivotal step in modernising our BNG, CG-NAT and optical transport systems.

"By integrating Nokia’s advanced technologies with our existing infrastructure, we are positioned to achieve exceptional efficiency.

"These enhancements will enable us to deliver superior, faster and more reliable services to our enterprise & broadband customers across India.”

Sanjai highlights the interaction between legacy infrastructure and new Nokia platforms, noting that the organisation expects the arrangement to support a phased upgrade path across national and metro networks.

The statement reflects RailTel’s reliance on integrated IP and optical systems for its service expansion plans and for its work with public sector agencies and enterprise clients.