Brazil’s Eletronet taps NEC and Nokia for backbone modernisation

Details: John Tanner; Category: Optical & Fixed Networks; 27 February 2026; 4374 views

NEC announced on Thursday it has won a contract from Brazilian telecoms and IT infrastructure provider Eletronet to modernize and extend its fibre backbone with optical solutions from Nokia.

Under the deal, NEC serve as system integrator for the project, in which Eletronet is investing BRL157 million (US$30.4 million) with the goal of reinforcing its role as a neutral connectivity hub.

As part of the project, NEC will upgrade Eletronet’s network with Nokia’s 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) and 1830 Global Express (GX) platforms, which NEC said will enable services with speeds of up to 1.2 Tbps per optical channel and ensure higher quality data transport.

The project is based on reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexer (ROADM) technology and a flexible optical grid embedded in Nokia solutions.

NEC said ROADM enables remote reconfiguration, new route activation, and traffic rerouting, which will accelerate service turn-up, reducing response times, and increasing overall service stability. The flexible optical grid will enable Eletronet to transport more data over the same fibre, enabling ultra-high speeds without new fibre installations and ensuring scalability for future demand and large strategic projects.

Eletronet’s infrastructure uses optical ground wire (OPGW) fibre optic cables installed on power transmission lines. The modernisation project calls for the addition of 8,000 km of new fibre routes, which would extend Eletronet’s fibre network to 25,000 km across 23 states, covering all regions of Brazil by the end of this year.

Eletronet also plans to create 85 new edge data centres under the project to support low-latency applications, which would its total number of edge data centres to 255.

"We are living in a moment of rapidly growing data traffic, driven by cloud applications, intensive use of artificial intelligence, and the continuous increase in connected devices. This scenario demands increasingly robust networks to keep pace with the digital economy,” said Eletronet CEO Rogério Garchet in a statement. “The modernization of our backbone directly addresses this need, ensuring that ISPs, telecom operators and submarine cable operators, data centres and hyperscalers have an infrastructure ready to support the country’s growth.”