Friday Bytes: Cisco, Megaport, Lumos

For a little Friday catch-up, one packet networking deployment, one interconnection strategic partnership, and a metro market update:

Cisco’s routing gear won a European convert this week. The pan-European and Asian network operator Colt has picked Cisco’s packet networking for a system-wide 100Gbps upgrade. Colt will be leveraging Cisco’s NCS 5500 and ASR 9000 platforms as well as its WAN automation capabilities. I’d long thought Colt’s destiny was a merger with Level 3, but with the CenturyLink/Level 3 deal that possibility is at the least put on hold. Meanwhile, Colt has been very actively upgrading its network capabilities, including with several interesting SDN and NFV efforts in the past few years.

Megaport’s European expansion picked up a partner in southeastern Europe this week. Omnix Group EAD, which Megaport acquired earlier this year, has forged a strategic partnership with Bulgaria’s Sofia Connect. Sofia Connect’s infrastructure will serve as a gateway to the networks of the Balkans and Caucasus regions for Megaport, while selling Megaport’s SDN-powered interconnection to its own customer base.

And back in the USA, Lumos Networks offered up an update on its ongoing expansion in Richmond, Virginia. They are seeing growth ahead based on increased enterprise spending, which has been helping fill their business pipeline this year. Following the completion of the latest buildout phase in the first half of 2016, the company now has 450 route miles in and around the Virginian capital with an average density of of 175 strands.

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Categories: Fiber Networks · Interconnection · Metro fiber · Telecom Equipment