Friday Bytes: SK, Colt, Interoute, Telstra, and TWC

The US is mostly out for the weekend, now trying to work off all that turkey with a bit of shopping.  But the globe does keep on turning, and so here is a quick survey of some news from around the world:

In South Korea, SK Telecom has demonstrated some major wireless bandwidth. They’ve put LTE-Advanced to work to the tune of 225Mbps, aggregating 20Mhz and 10Mhz of spectrum in the 1.8Ghz and 800Mhz bands, respectively. It’s not just an academic feat, they’re planning to launch it for real in the second half of next year. The ultra-wired state of telecom in South Korea will no doubt be a big part of how they can backhaul that much traffic.

In Germany, Interoute added another certification to its resume of data center and cloud/ICT solutions. They have now achieved ISO 27001 certification in their Berlin facility, giving them additional security credentials to take to the European enterprise cloud and infrastructure market. Interoute has been one of a few providers that have seemed completely unscathed by the broader macroeconomic and telecommunications trends that have slowed down the continent for the past few years.

In the British Isles, Colt has added a carrier voice customer. They’re carrying voice traffic for the television and communications provider Sky, with traffic now in the millions of minutes per month. Colt has been transitioning to a more data-centric footing for years now, but they still have a substantial voice business.

In the Pacific, Australia’s Telstra Global has become the latest 100Gbps submarine convert. They are putting 100G to work on their portion of the UNITY cable between Japan and the USA. The upgraded route will help them meet bandwidth demands for their APAC customer base.

And back in the USA, the one thing that isn’t taking a break is the cable merger rumor mill.  With TW Cable apparently on the block, there were two new developments over Thanksgiving.  First, the field of suitors may have expanded to include Cox Communications.  Frankly I’d be surprised if Cox bought all of TWC, however if the scenario of Comcast and Charter splitting up the prize is really on the table than I can definitely see Cox wanting a seat at that table.  But second, it looks like Charter may not be ready to share, or at least that’s what the $25B they are supposedly looking to line up from the debt markets says to me.  Seems to me as if on the M&A front Charter’s eyes have historically been bigger than its stomach, but I suppose that was in a prior life.

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: Cable · Datacenter · Mergers and Acquisitions · Security · Undersea cables · VoIP · Wireless