Network Roundup 5/24: SurfTelecoms, MetTel, IFN, Orange, NTT

Here’s a quick survey of some news items, the first two of which are from companies new to me (and hence to Telecom Ramblings):

In the UK, Surf Telecoms has signaled its intention to dramatically expand its footprint across the country. Following an upgrade of its existing backbone in Wales and the southwestern corner of England, they will light up a new network across the Midlands. They’ll be using Transmode optical gear for the buildout. I have now added Surf Telecoms to my European maps page.

Back in the US, MetTel has expanded its operations southeast across the sea and into Puerto Rico via new wholesale relationships with large carriers.  This follows a similar expansion northward into Canada earlier this year. Both new markets came at the request of the company’s enterprise customers, most likely large distributed retail chains.

In Indiana, a fiber operator we don’t hear from too often surfaced with some upgrade news. Indiana Fiber Network says it has selected Ciena’s packet-optical switching and control plane technology for a statewide upgrade. IFN is one of those fiber networks owned by a consortium of small independent LECs, and has 2,400 route miles of fiber with eight metro networks, 23 PoPs, and 3,300 On/Near-net buildings.  That reminds me, I’ll have to update my on-net building stats in a few weeks.

On the international corporate front, Orange Business won a global MPLS contract with the Israeli shipping container company ZIM. The multi-year contract will enable ZIM’s global network across 6,000 employees, 120 countries, 100 vessels, and 2 million containers yearly. The shipping and maritime vertical is one where Orange does particularly well.

NTT Communications (NYSE:NTT, news, filings) added some more depth in Southeast Asia this week, announcing an agreement with Brunei International Gateway. They’ll be providing IPv4/IPv6 dual stack global access to local ISPs in the tiny nation on the island of Borneo. BIG is a joint venture between the sultanate and local service providers.

 

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Categories: CLEC · ILECs, PTTs · Metro fiber