MTN Nigeria, Huawei Launch 800G Hybrid ASON Optical Network to Advance Nigeria’s Digital Infrastructure

Emma Okonji

MTN Nigeria and Huawei have successfully deployed Nigeria’s first high-rate 400G-800G Hybrid Automatically Switched Optical Network (ASON), marking a significant milestone in the country’s digital infrastructure development. The project establishes an all-optical transmission foundation, and represents a major step toward delivering high-speed and reliable networks to support Nigeria’s evolving data demands.

According to a joint statement by MTN Nigeria and Huawei, the newly launched 400G/800G high-speed optical network will deliver a substantial increase in bandwidth and transmission rates, enabling MTN to better manage the surge in data traffic from enterprise customers, homes, and cloud services. The deployment also supports broader national goals around digital transformation and economic modernization.

Key technical achievements in the project include: Activation of L0 + L1 (Optical + Electrical) ASON on Lagos segment of MTN’s terrestrial DWDM transmission backbone – the very first in Nigeria. Deployment of the first single-wavelength 800G optical channel in a DWDM network in Nigeria.

To drive these milestones, MTN Nigeria leveraged Huawei’s advanced 400G/800G platforms, Optical Cross-Connect (OXC), and Hybrid ASON solutions. These innovations provide not only high capacity and scalability but also deliver cost efficiency and operational simplicity, which allows MTN to reduce long-term maintenance costs and differentiate service offerings.

Commenting on the achievement, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Technical Officer, Yahaya Ibrahim, stated: “This milestone enables MTN Nigeria to meet its growing capacity demands and improve the performance of wireless, home broadband and enterprise services. With higher-capacity optical channels like 400G/800G, we are able to reduce cost per bit while boosting service reliability. The deployment of Hybrid ASON significantly enhances the stability of 100GE and higher services, ensures upstream connectivity and safeguards MTN’s revenue streams.”