BT Wholesale expands Ethernet services footprint

UK operator BT has extended its Ethernet fiber-optic network footprint with the launch of three new point-of-presence (PoP) sites in data centers across the UK.

The sites in Leeds, Manchester, and Slough are designed to make it easier for BT's wholesale customers to make Ethernet connections into BT's core network quickly and at a lower cost by bringing the network physically closer to them.

By investing in new equipment, housed in data centers across the UK, BT Wholesale will be able to substantially reduce the connection and rental costs for customers, as well as speeding up the time it takes to interconnect with its high-speed network, the company claims.

Service costs can be up to 75% cheaper than traditional access using direct network access products, says BT Wholesale. The standard provision lead time for Gigabit Ethernet ports in the new locations is just 10 working days, some five or six times quicker than buying standard direct access products.

"This is part of a wide investment in BT's Ethernet footprint across the UK, and it comes at a time when the cloud and hosted communications services market continues to grow rapidly," said Paul Beacham, general manager, TDM data, Ethernet and optical product management at BT Wholesale.

"We believe the huge benefits of the cloud can only be achieved if hosted services are run over reliable, high-capacity fiber network connectivity, which is delivered flawlessly," he added. "These services are being adopted in increasing numbers by businesses of all sizes, so BT is investing in more network options to support that growth in demand. We want to be in the right locations and at the right price for our customers in order to support, satisfy, and stimulate the growth of UK plc."

BT Wholesale's data center PoP rollout began earlier this year, and the sites to go live this month include TelecityGroup in Joule House, Manchester, and Equinix (LDN5) in Slough. The footprint already includes Telehouse Europe North and the Global Switch1 data center in London, as well as one of the UK’s largest data centers in Newport, South Wales.

BT Wholesale says it plans to launch additional PoP locations during 2014 and add support for 10-Gbps ports in key locations. Next year BT plans to extend its next-generation optical network into a number of data centre locations supporting national connectivity at 10-Gbps, 40-Gbps, and 100-Gbps bandwidths.

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