Join Nokia at ECOC 2026: Advancing connectivity in the AI era with optical innovation
It’s such an exciting time to be in our industry. As AI reshapes the requirements of digital infrastructure, optical networking has never been more critical and more in demand. From hyperscale data centers and AI clusters to long-haul transport networks, the industry is looking for new ways to scale bandwidth, reduce power, space and cost per bit and simplify operations. That is why ECOC remains one of the most important gatherings for the global optical communications community.
ECOC 2026 will bring together researchers, network operators, AI and cloud providers, technology innovators and industry leaders from 20–24 September in Málaga to explore the latest advances in fiber-optic communications and the underlying technologies that will drive technological and economic progress. As Europe's premier optical networking event and one of the largest worldwide, it provides a unique opportunity to connect our community and the experts and innovators shaping the industry's future.
What should we expect at this year’s event? AI data center connectivity will certainly be a central theme, with innovations spanning scale-up, scale-out, scale-across and traditional DCI. For scale-up, the industry is moving from copper to optical connectivity with multiple technologies vying to increase in-rack bandwidth while reducing power and cost. For scale-out, emerging 1.6 Tb/s and 3.2 Tb/s pluggables, including LPO with 80% power reduction, are driving faster electrical interfaces, including 224 Gb/s and 448 Gb/s SerDes, respectively. Additional advances in near-packaged and co-packaged optics (NPO/CPO), coherent optics, photonic integration and materials like thin-film-lithium niobate (TFLN) are enabling this evolution. Expect to see all these topics featured at ECOC.
A glimpse into the future of optical innovation
So, what are Nokia’s plans? This year’s demonstrations will span optical components, subsystems, data center interconnect and network automation with live equipment and immersive visualization with augmented reality.
For those focused on the rapidly evolving data center landscape, Nokia will showcase advancements in intra-data-center connectivity, including ultra-low-power 1.6T LPO modules and a preview of next-generation 448G-per-lane transmission technology, a key milestone on the path toward 3.2T optics. Attendees will see how Nokia is advancing coherent optical engines, including demonstrations of an indium phosphide (InP)-based optical frontend and an innovative hybrid silicon photonics-TFLN optical frontend, both designed to support 800G and beyond.
Nokia will also demonstrate innovations in data center interconnect and scale-across networking, including IPoDWDM, thin transponders, embedded optical engines, multi-rail line systems and coherent pluggables. Together, these technologies help enable more scalable connectivity while reducing power and space. They also provide building blocks for telecommunications service providers, mission-critical enterprises and other network operators looking to connect distributed AI infrastructure and scale capacity across metro, regional, long-haul and subsea networks.
To help bring additional optical innovations to life, we’ll feature the ever-popular immersive augmented reality experience that visualizes the evolution of intra-data-center connectivity and next-generation optical transport architectures in a compelling and interactive way.
AI for the network
While networks are critical for AI, AI is also transforming the way we operationalize and life-cycle-manage our networks. At the Nokia booth, attendees can preview AI-assisted network operations designed to measure, analyze, predict and recommend actions using real-time optical network insights. These capabilities can help reduce energy consumption, accelerate root-cause analysis, improve operational efficiency and optimize network performance while supporting stringent service-level agreements.
Hear from Nokia experts
In addition to the demonstrations, Nokia experts will lead technology- and market-focused sessions shaping optical networking in the AI era.
Julia Larikova will present a Market Focus session, "Challenges and solutions to build components for 1600G+," examining the innovations needed to support next-generation optical transmission and higher-capacity networks.
In a Product Focus session, "Optical components for the evolution of intra-data center connectivity," Neel Patel and Teresa Monteiro will discuss how advances in optical components are helping data centers scale bandwidth and support growing AI workloads.
A second Product Focus session, "Pluggable or embedded? Case studies from real world deployments," features Fady Masoud and Oriol Bertran Pardo discussing deployment experiences and the tradeoffs between pluggable and embedded optical architectures.
During the Women in Photonics program, Jelena Pesic, Director of Patent and Standardization, Network Infrastructure, will explore the value of mentorship and leadership development within the optical communications community with her presentation Women in Photonics - Bridging Excellence and Advancement through Mentorship.
Meet us at ECOC 2026
Whether you are developing next-generation data centers, expanding network capacity, exploring AI-driven operations or evaluating the latest optical technologies, ECOC 2026 is the place to connect.
We look forward to meeting customers, partners, researchers and industry peers at Booth #1100, sharing our latest innovations and discussing how optical networks can help unlock the full potential of the AI era. Register for ECOC 2026, add Nokia's sessions to your agenda, and be sure to visit us at Booth #1100 to see the future of optical networking in action. We look forward to seeing you there.
