Pranav Hotkar
Mumbai, India - January 23, 2026 - Indian digital infrastructure company Constl, a subsidiary of Space World Group, has entered a strategic partnership with Nokia to build a nationwide optical transport network designed to interconnect data centers, cloud platforms, and enterprise hubs across India, officials and industry sources said today.
Under the agreement, Nokia will supply its 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) platforms to support the development of a Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) network capable of delivering high-capacity, low-latency connectivity required for modern cloud, artificial intelligence, and web-scale services. The initial rollout will begin in Mumbai, India’s largest data center market, and will be extended to other major metro regions, including Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi, as part of a phased deployment strategy.
Constl Chairman and Founder Ankit Goel said the collaboration brings together “Constl’s growing pan-India fiber footprint with Nokia’s world-class optical transport technology,” creating a platform poised to support emerging bandwidth demands. “As AI, cloud computing, and digital services scale, the underlying connectivity infrastructure must evolve. This collaboration is a key step in building that foundation in India,” Goel said.
Nokia’s vice president for optical networks in the Asia Pacific region described the alliance as a milestone for India’s digital infrastructure ecosystem. He said Nokia’s optical portfolio will enhance network scalability and performance, enabling enterprises and cloud providers to access mission-critical connectivity with the resilience and capacity expected of next-generation services, though he did not disclose financial terms of the agreement.
DWDM networks like the one Constl and Nokia plan to deploy use multiple wavelengths of light on a single fiber to transport large volumes of data over long distances with high efficiency. These systems are increasingly integral to data center interconnectivity (DCI) solutions, where bandwidth requirements have surged due to the adoption of artificial intelligence, real-time applications, and distributed cloud architectures.
Industry analysts said the move underscores a broader trend in India’s digital infrastructure landscape, where operators and technology vendors are investing in optical and fiber networks that bridge cloud regions, enterprise campuses, and data center campuses. As hyperscale and enterprise workloads demand more capacity and lower latency, such networks are essential to reduce bottlenecks and enhance cross-region traffic flows.
Constl and Nokia did not provide a timetable for the full network rollout, but sources familiar with the project said initial segments connecting major metro hubs could begin service later this year, subject to regulatory clearances and coordinated build-outs with existing fiber partners.
