|
Interoute's fibre network in Germany expands to 5, 000km |
Interoute already owns significant assets in the country but with this latest acquisition it now has in excess of 5,000km of German fibre. The carrier claimed the acquisition will strengthen Interoute’s resiliency and latency which is increasingly needed in the financial sector. Renzo Ravaglia, EVP service provider at Interoute said: “For customers, especially in the financial sector, reducing latency is of huge importance. If we can reduce connection times by a couple of milliseconds it gives us a real competitive advantage.”
The network covers Berlin, Munich and Hamburg, as well as Dusseldorf, Cologne-Bonn, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Kehl. These cities are not only financial and commercial hubs but are also geographically central to Interoute’s network across Europe. The dark fibre gives Interoute more freedom and flexibility to be able to direct the cables.
To Ravaglia, it is the acquisition of fibre that is one of the most important elements of this deal: “If you can implement fibre you can bring the cost down and deliver high services to the corporate customer at very competitive prices. For carriers, fibre is a goldmine.”
Optimisation of the network may take over a year, but sections of the network may be lit by Q2 2010. David James, analyst at Ovum, believes similar acquisitions have helped Interoute win the contract to be the main fibre-optic network provider for Telefonica in western Europe. “It confirms our view about the consolidation of networks. There are smaller providers who by themselves are not economical but players such as Interoute can consolidate them and help build consistent networks,” he said.
