The European Commission has unconditionally approved Nokia Corporation’s (‘Nokia’) planned purchase of Infinera Corporation (‘Infinera’) under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission determined that the deal would not raise any competition issues in the European Economic Area (‘EEA’). Both Nokia and Infinera manufacture optical transport equipment used to carry data over optical fibre connections. The transaction would enable the merged entity to achieve the necessary size in its optical networking business to accelerate its product pipeline and compete more aggressively in the market.

The Commission evaluated the transaction’s impact on the worldwide or EEA markets for the supply of optical transport equipment, as well as narrower parts of such markets depending on the equipment’s type and application. Based on its market examination, the Commission determined that Nokia and Infinera had modest combined market shares in the worldwide or EEA markets for optical transport equipment supply, as well as in the smaller sectors of those markets. It also discovered that there are other genuine competitors in those markets who, after the deal, will continue to put considerable competitive pressure on Nokia.

Transaction is being conducted at an enterprise value of US$ 2.3 billion. Finland is home to the headquarters of the publicly traded firm Nokia. Based in the United States, Infinera is a publicly traded corporation.

Acquisition of Infinera is in line with Nokia’s future strategy for creating a world class optical business and product capabilities. By eliminating its matrix organisation and establishing four P&L-responsible business divisions centred on distinctive client offerings, Nokia drastically reduced the complexity of its operational model in 2021. In addition to increasing faster than the market and entering new growth sectors, its business groupings have now rebalanced their portfolio, bolstered their technological leadership, and raised R&D investments.

Nokia unveiled its Technology Strategy 2030 in 2023, which serves as a roadmap for upcoming network design and new technologies. The next ten years will see significant changes in how society lives and works because to unparalleled technical growth. Trends including an increased emphasis on cybersecurity, inclusivity, and environmental sustainability will affect the rate of technology adoption worldwide. Technological developments in semiconductors, software, cloud computing, Web3, metaverse, AI, and machine learning will all continue to pick up speed. By fusing the digital, physical, and human realms, these technologies will greatly expand the realm of what is feasible and contribute to the resolution of some of the most pressing global issues.

With the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), extended reality (XR), digital twins, automation, and billions of new devices, network traffic is already increasing and will continue to do so. Nokia’s Global Network Traffic 2030 report projects that the demand for network traffic would reach between 2 443 and 3 109 exabytes per month in 2030, with end-user data traffic demand growing at a compound annual growth rate of 22% to 25% between 2022 and 2030.

Future network architectures must be more flexible and dynamic in order to quickly adjust to new business and operating models, as well as the changing needs of applications and services. Network digital twin technology is a key component of the future network architecture that Nokia has created. In order to maximise resource usage and user experience, the architecture combines networks and clouds. In order to provide the best life-cycle management of deployed assets and applications, this future network uses AI and digital twin technology to improve management and orchestration. An environment where services and applications may be readily developed, deployed, and interoperated across the network is made possible by unified application programming interfaces, or APIs.

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