Nokia and Japan’s NTT have announced an all-photonic networking deployment that they claim can increase transmission capacity by 125x, reduce latency by 200x, and lower power consumption by 100x. The big claims stem from an Innovative Optical and Wireless Global Forum (IOWN) PoC, and the pair believe the approach is ideal for new RAN fronthaul usage. An All Photonic Network (APN), in this instance, put very simply, means a wired network that uses fiber optic connections along every step of the chain – ditching the copper-based Ethernet in the process. In time, the plan is to add in wireless communications – using the APN functions to provide low enough latencies for next-generation capabilities. Going a step further than simply swapping…