Nokia is providing optical data center interconnect (DCI) infrastructure for Chinese tech giants Tencent, and Baidu.

Nokia’s DCI solutions, which are based on the Nokia 1830 Photonic Service Interconnect and powered by the Nokia Photonic Service Engine, will enable operators in China to support edge cloud applications.

Markus Borchert, president of Nokia Greater China, said: “We continue to expand our relationship with China’s webscale giants. Our leading DCI product portfolio and technology innovations in photonics and SDN controllers are key, as well as our strong R&D capabilities, globalized supply chain, and highly responsive service teams.

"These latest contracts with Baidu and Tencent consolidate our presence in the webscale market in China, which we are confident will continue to flourish in the coming years.”

Shift from Huawei

In the past year, Nokia has scored several high profile victories over Chinese telco giant Huawei in the past year. In Canada, Bell Canada and Telus agreed to use equipment from both Nokia and Ericsson in their 5G networks, after previously planning to use Huawei.

The Canadian government is now deciding whether the Chinese tech giant should even be involved in their nation's 5G networks. The US and Australia have already banned Huawei components in their upcoming 5G products, while the UK also recently drew up plans to reduce Huawei's involvement in its 5G networks.

Tencent and Baidu have both worked extensively on projects with Huawei in the past such as on software, mobile gaming, and chips. Huawei also offers its own DCI service, however, it appears both companies have opted for Nokia to lay the infrastructure for their cloud platforms.