Arelion has announced a major infrastructure expansion in Scandinavia, upgrading its network to deliver 1.6 Tb/s wavelength capacity and scalable 400G coherent pluggable optics. The initiative aims to connect hyperscale data centers and meet the region’s growing demand for cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) services, placing Arelion at the forefront of Europe’s next-generation network evolution.
The company, formerly known as Telia Carrier, is leveraging Ciena’s open 6500 Reconfigurable Line System (RLS) to enhance its Tier-1 backbone linking key Nordic cities – Oslo, Stockholm, and Copenhagen. This upgraded network not only supports high-performance cloud and AI workloads but also allows Arelion to serve both wholesale and enterprise clients more efficiently and cost-effectively.
With 13 subsea cable systems and a robust terrestrial infrastructure already in place across the Nordics and Baltics, Arelion is enhancing its network by completing additional cable and duct builds and modernizing existing paths. These efforts are designed to support the needs of both current clients and the anticipated demands of AI-scale data campuses, which are multiplying across the region.
Scandinavia is increasingly recognized as a strategic location for data center growth due to its abundance of renewable energy, land availability, and energy cost stability. The data center market in Oslo alone offers 423 MW of capacity. Analysts expect that the Nordic region will see an annual increase of 280 to 580 MW in installed data center capacity. Projections suggest the regional data center construction industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.47%, reaching $7.38 billion by 2030. In parallel, Scandinavia’s AI sector is forecast to reach $19.90 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 26.24%.
Access to Suite of Global Network Services
These dynamics have prompted Arelion to prioritize the Nordics in its strategic roadmap. In a recent demonstration of its technical capabilities, the company successfully completed a 1,069-kilometer IP transmission between Stockholm and Hamburg using Cisco 800G ZR+ coherent optics. This followed a historic milestone in August 2024, when Arelion conducted the world’s first live 1.6 Tb/s Wave data transmission using Ciena’s WaveLogic 6 Extreme.
Commenting on the expansion, Virginie Hollebecque, Vice President and EMEA Leader at Ciena, emphasized Arelion’s role as an innovation leader in open optical networking. “This investment enhances both network capacity and energy efficiency, providing the backbone needed to support Scandinavia’s AI-driven digital future,” she said.
The full implementation of the current upgrades is expected to be completed by the end of Q2 2025, with additional investments scheduled through 2026. Johan Godal, Product Manager at Arelion, noted that this marks the first in a series of planned expansions. “As a global Internet carrier headquartered in Sweden, we’ve consistently invested in Scandinavian infrastructure to meet evolving connectivity demands. This upgrade underscores our long-term strategy to maximize network capacity, scalability, and diversity,” he said.
Arelion’s enhanced network would provide improved access to its suite of global services, including IP Transit, Wavelengths, Dedicated Internet Access (DIA), Cloud Connect, 40G Ethernet Virtual Circuit (VC), and DDoS Mitigation. These offerings support a wide range of clients – from hyperscalers and content providers to enterprises and telecom operators – strengthening Arelion’s position as a critical enabler of digital transformation in Northern Europe and beyond.
