SSE Enterprise Telecoms has entered a fibre agreement with Three UK and O2 to support enhanced fibre access in London.
The connectivity supplier is licensed to lay fibre optic cables throughout Thames Water’s waste water network; and the new partnership centres around the use of this fibre ring in enhancing Three UK and O2’s connectivity backhaul capabilities in order to stay ahead of an expected surge in data usage in the run up to 5G.
The agreement will see approximately 100 points of connectivity exit from this central London sewer network via two BT Exchanges. By partnering with SSE Enterprise Telecoms, Three UK and O2 can operate their own Central London Area (CLA) network, while also accessing spare fibre ducts for future initiatives in London.
Colin Sempill, managing director of SSE Enterprise Telecoms said of the announcement: ‘Networks will fundamentally underpin the UK’s digital economy and will be essential to 5G services. With this high capacity core in the London sewers, Three UK and O2 are putting their networks in a strong position to trial 5G offerings, while enhancing existing services for their customers.’
Added Dave Dyson, chief executive officer of Three UK: ‘Our partnership with SSE Enterprise Telecoms and O2 is one of the first examples of using existing infrastructure to improve connectivity in an urban area.’
Brendan O’Reilly, chief technology officer of O2 concluded: ‘This kind of agreement is essential to allow for continued investment and improvement of services for our customers.’
SSE Enterprise Telecoms also recently made a large investment in network technology earlier this year with the introduction of a new technology platform with Infinera (see SSE Enterprise Telecoms invests in ‘dark fibre-like’ network with Infinera).
