Stating that NTT Europe is historically a follower rather than a market leader, Simon Waller, head of EMEA sales at the company said the time was now right to expand in to the region.
Waller, speaking at Capacity Europe said: “We generally follow attractive areas of the market for the right reasons. In terms of a lot of these new markets, ensuring our own resilience is a better option and we can partner with a range of professional companies in the region. There has also been a change in regulation in the region, giving us more access to the market.”
Waller also pressed on the fact that as the Level 3 acquisition of Global Crossing had finally been completed, it was the right time for NTT Communications to enter the region as it had access to a bigger market share. He said: “The interesting thing is at the time of the Level 3 and Global Crossing merger, we confirmed this expansion.”
He continued: “Those things came together by chance in some respect as it’s a great opportunity. If you have three or four upstream providers, and two of those are merging it needs addressing from a resiliency point of view. It essentially lifts NTT up to the second largest network in the region.”
According to research firm Renysys, NTT Communications overtook Sprint as the third largest IP backbone provider in Europe last year.
Waller confirmed the expansion in to Budapest, Bucharest and Sofia was a result of deals signed at Capacity Balkans in April.
