Arelion expanded optical spectrum by more than 20% in a live 310-mile (500-kilometer) field trial between Amsterdam and London.
In a trial carried out with Nokia, the duo paired an extended-band open line system (OLS) with 400 GB/s (400G) and 800G coherent pluggable optics to demonstrate approximately 21% more usable optical spectrum over its existing fiber infrastructure.
Arelion’s demo leveraged Nokia's 1830 Global Express (GX) Super C and Super L OLS, CHMQ6 thin transponder modules, and ICE-X 400G and 800G ZR+ coherent pluggable optics (CPOs). Arelion touted a modular, lower-power approach to high-capacity optical transport with the CHMQ6 and ICE-X CPOs, while client splitting enabled “more efficient use of wavelength capacity across different high-speed customer services,” helping to support its managed optical fiber network (MOFN) high-bandwidth service.
This in turn aids the Swedish telecom carrier to support wholesale, neocloud, and enterprise clients deploying AI workloads over distributed environments with scalable connectivity. Arelion also spotlighted burgeoning neocloud demand for high-capacity MOFN services.
The firm referred to Cignal AI research claiming 400ZR/ZR+ pluggable optics represented nearly half of all deployed telecom bandwidth in 2025, with 800G modules projected to drive the fastest coherent interface growth in 2026.
“This field trial is another milestone in our continuous network investment to support customers' escalating bandwidth requirements as they deploy AI and other next-generation technologies,” Dariusz Solowiej, VP of networks and operations at Arelion, noted. “By combining expanded optical spectrum with Nokia's coherent pluggable technology, we're evaluating a more scalable and energy-efficient approach to increasing backbone capacity, helping enterprises and other bandwidth-intensive customers reliably connect data centers and cloud environments.”
“As an operator at the heart of the global Internet, Arelion plays a foundational role in supporting the digital infrastructure that underpins today's connected economy,” Ron Johnson, SVP and GM of optical networks at Nokia, added. “Pairing expanded Super C and Super L spectrum with coherent pluggable technology gives operators greater flexibility to increase fiber capacity while improving power and cost efficiency. Arelion's trial demonstrates how these technologies can help operators cost effectively scale their networks to meet evolving customer requirements while maintaining high levels of performance and resiliency.”