The 15-year deal will see Zayo manage and upgrade O2’s nationwide fibre network, which uses Geo Networks’ infrastructure and spans Glasgow in Scotland to Salisbury in the south of England.
The deal marks an important shift for O2 from SDH and Ethernet-based managed services infrastructure, to a dedicated fibre network connecting mobile switching sites across the network.
“Deploying high-capacity core fibre is essential when faced with this increase in data traffic and the resilience and reliability of our network is important for customers,” said Adrian Di Meo, CTO at O2. “Zayo’s track record, expertise and experience made them a natural choice to provide this fibre-optic infrastructure. The new backbone will continue to help deliver a great digital experience for our customers.”
The O2 4G network covers 260 towns and cities and half of the UK population, and a year after its launch it had already carried a total of 5,400Tb of 4G data; the equivalent of eight million hours of HD video.
Alastair Kane, European VP for Zayo, also notes this dramatic increase in data consumption across the country.
“Zayo is committed to expanding its European footprint and enabling its partners to manage these constantly expanding traffic requirements,” Kane said.
“By moving this particular infrastructure to a dedicated fibre-optic platform, O2 can manage their growth more effectively.”
