Nokia and KDDI Corporation demoed quantum-proof optical transport capabilities at the latter's new AI data center.

The Japanese telecom giant used Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) with C+L Band capabilities and the 1830 Security Management Server (SMS) to validate a secure and scalable infrastructure at its Osaka Sakai Data Center.

KDDI said the proof of concept meets the rigorous demands of real-time AI training, inference, and analytics, while its cryptography-enhanced architecture safeguards personal data, national infrastructure, alongside sensitive AI operations.

Ron Johnson, SVP and GM for optical networks at Nokia, said: "This groundbreaking initiative sets a new benchmark for advanced AI-ready data center connectivity. As KDDI continues its quantum-safe, AI-ready data center infrastructure build out, our partnership will deliver secure and scalable digital services in Japan and beyond. Nokia’s optical transport solutions meet the demands of modern AI workloads by delivering trusted performance, while at the same time reducing cybersecurity risks, protecting critical AI data in flight for enterprises, governments, and critical infrastructure providers."

"High levels of security and performance are essential for the communications infrastructure that underpins AI. Nokia’s optical transport solutions are a perfect fit for these requirements and were instrumental to the success of this demonstration," added Tetsuo Mukai, general manager, Access Network Technical Division, KDDI. "As AI data centers are deployed in a distributed manner across Japan, we will continue to work closely with Nokia to advance the development of cutting-edge quantum-safe, and resilient networks that seamlessly connect these facilities."

Nokia’s 1830 PSS has seen recent deployments courtesy of Indian operator Constl, covering the data center hub of Mumbai as well as India's network backbone across Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi.

January saw Altafiber tap the same switch tech in support of a multigigabit network expansion in Hawaii and Ohio. Alongside PSS, Altafiber will deploy Nokia’s Lightspan 25 Gb/s (25G) passive optical network (PON), optical network platform, and IP routing, alongside Nokia’s 7750 Service Routers, and the vendor’s Deepfield security suite.

MX Fiber also employed Nokia kit to support a new high-speed backbone network traversing Southeast Mexico, utilizing 1830 PSS and Nokia’s Flex-Grid DWDM offering for seven new DWDM routes, with line capacity growth up to 2.4 Tb/s in the offering.

Nokia has also released new shelf hardware in its PSS offerings, with the 1830 PSS-hc, which includes both the Finnish vendor’s PSS-10hc and PSS-4hc offerings, designed as a three-fold upgrade to its 1830 PSS services.

The Finnish giant said the high-capacity shelf offers up to 60% lower power consumption per bit, bolstering its push into AI infrastructure.