MX Fiber extends gigabit access across south-east Mexico with optical network

Despite boasting one of the country’s largest populations, the south-east Mexico region has long lacked high-quality network infrastructure, but aiming to close this digital divide, Mexican comms provider MX Fiber has announced that it is creating a digital backbone in the region spanning 1,800km.

MX Fiber specialises in communication infrastructure assets, with a focus on long-haul and metropolitan fibre optic networks in Mexico. Currently, it owns and manages over 800km of existing networks, and the new infrastructure is being built on Nokia’s Flex-Grid DWDM technology and 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS).

The backbone is intended to lay the digital foundation to support economic revitalisation and modern services for communities, businesses and government projects. Customers across Chiapas, Tabasco, Quintana Roo, Campeche and Veracruz will soon benefit from faster internet, enhanced cloud access and support for data-intensive applications. These areas have long lacked sufficient infrastructure.

The infrastructure supports throughput up to 2.4Tbps and is designed to offer scalable 10G, 100G and 200G services, which Nokia said makes it ideal for next-generation cloud, enterprise and government workloads. Indeed, the comms tech provider claimed the added capacity would transform connectivity for datacentres, industrial zones and subsea transport hubs, laying the groundwork for smarter commerce, transportation, public services, mobility and digital inclusion.

Commenting on the deployment, MX Fiber CEO Nestor Bergero said: “We are very happy to work with Nokia to deploy a proven, optical solution that delivers massive capacity and high-quality services at a lower operational cost. This solution is crucial to supporting our customers and to the success of mega-projects such as the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and Maya Train, which are designed to spur economic development in the region. We look forward to continuing to grow and evolve with Nokia.”

Javier Falcón, vice-president of network infrastructure, Latin America, at Nokia, added: “This is a major step forward for digital inclusion and economic empowerment in south-eastern Mexico. We’re honoured to support MX Fiber with world-class optical technology that delivers scale, reliability and future-ready performance.”

The Nokia 1830 PSS is built to allow for upgrades to 400G and 800G without disrupting existing services. Nokia said that built-in dynamic network management and real-time performance monitoring via optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR) will give MX Fiber customers “the peace of mind that their connectivity is robust, responsive and ready for future demands”.

The new network in Mexico is the latest in a series of recent deployments in the Latin American region by Nokia to support digital inclusion.

In Brazil, the tech firm formed a partnership with telecoms infrastructure organisation Solis Tower Telecom do Brasil, which it said would offer a flexible and competitive digital agriculture solution, bringing much-needed connectivity to agribusinesses in rural parts of Latin America’s largest country. The partnership aims to expand private wireless networks that will help deliver gains in productivity, efficiency and sustainability, and ultimately an increase in food production. It will also drive digital inclusion and bring reliable connectivity to many farming communities in rural or plantation areas.

In addition, Nokia is working with operator Global Fiber Peru to deploy a subaquatic and future-proof optical, IP and fibre broadband network in the South American area known as the three-border region – where Peru, Colombia and Brazil adjoin. It is one of the most remote and least connected areas in the world, but the tech provider said it is endeavouring to reduce this considerable digital divide.