Level 3 Takes Low Latency South To Zurich, Milan

In its second European infrastructure announcement of the week, Level 3 Communications (NYSE:LVLT, news, filings) says it has optimized more of its network for the low latency crowd.  New routes to the exchanges in Milan and Zurich are now available from their other major financial hubs, including Madrid which they added just after New Year’s.  Yesterday’s news of a new route connecting Toulouse and bisecting their previous Paris-Madrid-Marseilles loop is probably not directly related, but they are clearly spending money beefing up their infrastructure to the south of the original Level 3 build.

Other providers have also been expanding their low latency offerings to European markets outside of the London/Frankfurt axis.  Interoute paid some attention to Milan and Amsterdam earlier this year, euNetworks focused on routes to Stockholm, and Colt did some work between Paris and Brussels not long ago.  Each will probably continue to boost their low latency portfolio as the year goes on.  One interesting thing here is that the large incumbents don’t seem to be playing this game nearly as much – it’s mostly the nextgen operators.  In fact, KPN and Telefonica are actively outsourcing the fiber layer in much of continental Europe.

Rumor has it another transatlantic cable may be in the works, but this time down south to replace or complement the Columbus III cable between Spain and Florida, possibly via Bermuda.  That wouldn’t change much with NYC-London latency, but anybody for Madrid-NYC? 🙂

If you haven't already, please take our Reader Survey! Just 3 questions to help us better understand who is reading Telecom Ramblings so we can serve you better!

Categories: Internet Backbones · Low Latency