Every week, we will be bringing you the latest updates in network activity, reporting on network extensions, improvements to connectivity, new PoPs and data centres and anything else relevant to the market.
As you’ll see, it’s been a busy week, with network activity by dozens of providers, so we hope this will be a useful service.
We want to make this email as comprehensive as possible, so if you have news you’d like us to share, please email fiona.bradley@capacitymedia.com or tweet us @capacitymag
360networks has extended its US network, announcing the launch of a 640-mile link between Dallas and El Paso. The new link is capable of supporting 100G, and builds on 360networks existing network which covers over 18,000 route miles over 22 states in the US. 360networks' CTO, Brady Adams, referred to the new link as "a natural progression of our strategy to take customers deeper into the geographic areas we serve".
KPN and Huawei have deployed 100G services on the Dutch telecoms and ICT service provider’s European network. The increased bandwidth will offer a faster route for traffic between London and Amsterdam on KPN’s international WDM network. The 100G service uses Huawei’s WDM systems which claim to offer a transmission rate of 8Tbps, allowing customers to download 240 DVD movies in one second.
Huawei has been selected by Danish operator, TDC, to build its national and pan-European optical transport network. The network will cross northern and western Europe, connecting Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris and London. The build aims to improve the quality of services that require higher bandwidths such as HD TV, video conferencing and gaming.
KDDI America and TELEHOUSE America, both US divisions of KDDI Corporation, have announced the launch of a new data centre in Hong Kong. The TELEHOUSE Hong Kong CCC (cloud computing complex) data centre will cover 36,000 square metres and is scheduled for service in December this year. KDDI has said it will invest in HKCOLO.NET, the neutral co-location service provider to manage the facility.
Zhone Technologies, global FTTx provider, has been chosen by Hickory Telephone Company, the US operator for Pennsylvania region, to deliver triple-play services including radio-frequency video, VoIP and high-speed data throughout western Pennsylvania. Zhone will provide the Hickory Telephone Company with the platform for its copper and FTTX-based networks to provide intelligent GPON connectivity.
Telecom Italia Sparkle announces an agreement with Cyrpiot telco, Cyta, for the ATHENA submarine to link Cyprus to Greece. TIS’s Mediterranean operations, MedNautilus, will be responsible for linking the cable from its backbone landing station in Athens to Cyta’s landing station in Yeroskipos. TIS claims that this will be the first direct fully redundant ring configured between Cyprus and Greece. The ATHENA cable is due to start commercial operations by the end of this year.
Bahamas Telecommunications Company has announced plans to increase the capacity of its submarine cable connecting the Caribbean and the US to maximise revenues and improve connections to Haiti. The damage to the cable during the Haiti earthquake in 2010 has since been restored but the new build will improve services for mobile operators with high-speed international links.
Colt has expanded its long-distance fibre network into three more cities across Italy. The network now includes Bologna, Genoa and Parma to add to existing connections in Rome, Milan and Turin. The additions will add 1,600km of new fibre cable and have connection speeds of up to 10Gbps. “It enables us to meet the strong customer demand for national and international high-speed connectivity,” commented François Eloy, EVP, Colt Communication Services. The new network also has the potential to support IPv6 and 100Gbps Ethernet.
Reliance Globalcom's HAWK cable will now connect Marseille in France to Yeroskipos in Cyprus. The new cable link will be added to Reliance Globalcom’s global submarine and European backhaul network connecting Marseille to London, Paris and Frankfrut. The cableco said that the addition to its network also has to potential to connect Tunisia, Libya, Italy, Turkey and Syria due to its eastern position in the Mediterranean.
Level 3 is to launch an expanded PoP in Telx’s data centre in Clifton, New Jersey. The expansion is to accommodate higher bandwidth services delivered over Level 3’s network to this area. “[This deployment will enable] efficient and reliable solutions that address today’s business challenges in areas such as cloud computing and business continuity,” said Robert Kaps, Level 3’s GM for the tri-state region. The expansion will add alternative routes to other New Jersey and New York metro and financial centres.
Farmers Telephone Cooperative, the US’s second largest telephone cooperative, has launched a FTTH initiative to reach 10,000 homes in South Carolina in the US. Clearfield, the fibre management platform, will be responsible for supervising the 400-mile fibre deployment. Residents in the region will now be able to experience fibre-based phone, TV and internet services.
China Telecom and Huawei have launched their first 100G WDM system connecting the economic centres of Nanjing and Wuxi in China. Huawei said that operators need to be able to adapt their live IP core and 40G WDM to carry more services in order to meet the demand for higher bandwidth services. The Chinese vendor said that the successful transmission of the 100G service suggests 250% increase in the capacity of the live network to 100Gbs per channel.
