Colt upgrades packet fiber-optic network to 100 Gbps

Colt Technology Services is upgrading its pan-European and Asian packet fiber-optic network to 100 Gbps using optical transport technology from Cisco, the two companies say.

Colt's network connects more than 680 data centers worldwide as well as more than 24,000 on-net buildings. The upgraded network will support pre-positioned, high-capacity connectivity ready for rapid service delivery. This ability comes at least in part due to the use of end-to-end segment routing technology, an enhancement to IP MPLS that Cisco says simplifies and automates network operation and significantly reduces operating costs.

"We are focused on providing customers with world-class, high-bandwidth connectivity services," said Rajiv Datta, CTO of Colt. "Our investment in Cisco not only delivers 100-Gbps connectivity; we are able to automate the provision of services to meet the exacting demands of our customers and enable businesses of all sizes to future-proof their connectivity."

The new capabilities will come via use of Cisco's Network Convergence System (NCS) 5500 series transport and router platforms and Cisco Aggregation Services Router (ASR) 9000 platforms. The segment routing function will come from us of the Cisco WAN Automation Engine, a software-defined networking (SDN) platform that Cisco says balances distributed intelligence and centralized optimization and programming.

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