Networking

EXA Infrastructure announces extension to Finland

EXA Infrastructure, Europe’s largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform, has reached a significant milestone in its network expansion strategy, announcing the extension of its DWDM backbone into Finland. The EXA Infrastructure footprint will connect Helsinki to Stockholm, enhancing the company’s coverage in the Nordics and extending its direct presence to 37 countries across Europe and North America. This strategic expansion aims to provide broader service offerings to EXA's existing customer base – including 400G and Spectrum – while fostering healthy competition in the local market. With Finland’s market demand projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32% over the next five years, according to Telegeography, the region is set for rapid expansion. The growth is being driven, in part, by the deployment of artificial intelligence technologies, as Finland boasts the largest concentration of deployed data centre capacity in the Nordics, nearing 240MW, with the majority located in Helsinki. Earlier this year, EXA Infrastructure entered a strategic partnership with Bulk Infrastructure on the Havfrue Transatlantic system, which connects the US to Norway and Denmark. The new expansion into Finland further extends the Havfrue system integration into EXA’s extensive digital backbone and provides a direct and fast connection between US and Finland, avoiding the FLAP countries. Steve Roberts, Senior Vice President of Strategic Investments at EXA Infrastructure, comments, “This investment opens Finland as a new market for EXA, aligning with our vision of connecting more strategic locations to our network. Finland is emerging as a key hub for subsea cable systems and hyperscale data centres, and we are proud to contribute to the country’s infrastructure development with our advanced network.” Jim Fagan, CEO of EXA Infrastructure, adds, “The Nordic countries are rapidly emerging as Europe’s new digital infrastructure hub, driven by the availability of abundant green energy. The region is attracting major investments from global cloud hyperscalers and multi-tenant data centre providers. This is driving an incredible demand for resilient, scalable and diverse connectivity infrastructure to fuel the growth of this dynamic ecosystem.” For more from EXA Infrastructure, click here.

Espria launches Security Service Edge solution

A new enhanced network security solution has been launched by Espria, a provider of digital workspace solutions. Espria Security Service Edge (SSE) has been designed and developed for any organisation currently using legacy VPN solutions or Always On VPN. Based on Zero Trust principals, Espria SSE replaces the traditional connections to the user's applications, delivering enhanced network security and a seamless user experience that does not compromise on performance or security. Espria thus claims that its Espria SSE is the complete cloud-based solution for workforce access. Brian Sibley, Virtual CTO at Espria comments, “Espria SSE replaces legacy VPNs with ZTNA to minimise the risk of implicit trust and lateral movement and has been designed to reduce the complexity of your existing security estate, as well as cost. With fewer security tools to manage, it means organisations will experience increased efficiency and reduced OpEx. “Furthermore, by leveraging existing Conditional Access policies, organisations will be able to maximise their existing investment in Microsoft tools, while enhancing their security position.” Brian continues, “Cyber security breaches and attacks remain a constant threat for businesses of all sizes. According to the UK Government’s latest Cyber Security Report 2024, half of businesses (50%) and around a third of charities (32%) have reported some form of cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months. By far the most common type of breach or attack is phishing (84% of businesses and 83% of charities). “Espria's new SSE solution has been launched in response to this rise in attacks, and specifically developed to protect existing investments in Microsoft security solutions. By delivering a solution that unifies an existing security administration, Espria has, for the first time, made available an enhanced security solution that is not only seamless, but cost effective and less complex for users.” Espria SSE is offered in a number of packages dependent on the individual requirement of an organisation. For more from Espria, click here.

Zayo Europe expands German presence with GasLINE

Zayo Europe, a network infrastructure provider, has entered an agreement with GasLINE, a German dark fibre network supplier, to continue its expansion throughout Germany. The agreement will enhance Zayo Europe’s coverage and capabilities by using part of GasLINE’s national dark ring network, enabling its 400G optical network and tier-one IP backbone across key German hubs, including Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, and Berlin. Zayo Europe’s planned German network features a direct shortcut from Berlin to Frankfurt, offering a low-latency path to major European financial hubs. The infrastructure interconnects with Zayo Europe’s backbone throughout the continent, providing direct routes to London, Paris, Marseille, Amsterdam and Dublin for data centre to data centre connectivity. The new network spans more than 3,000km of dark fibre in the region. The framework consists of a ring connecting all major metros with low-latency shortcuts, including Nuremberg to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Berlin. This network complements Zayo's existing Berlin, Frankfurt and Stuttgart metro fibre networks, extending this capability to key DCs and enabling local access. Colman Deegan, CEO at Zayo Europe, says, “Germany is a strategic market for Zayo Europe and the company is delighted to announce its agreement with GasLINE to materially extend Zayo's footprint and connect the major cities there. This follows Zayo Europe's acquisition of Globalways last year and is another step in the company's expansion into Europe's largest market. “Zayo Europe is dedicated to providing the best possible connectivity services to the region. Its agreement with GasLINE will offer both German and international businesses and carriers low latency connectivity to the key German metro markets and enable them meet the rising data demands driven by increased AI adoption and cloud usage.” Wolfram Rinner, Managing Director at GasLINE, adds, “Zayo Europe is expanding its business in the German market, using GasLINE's dark fibre network to power its nationwide ring and further routes. GasLINE is proud to be supporting Zayo Europe with its huge German dark fibre-ring, which is connecting eleven metropolises and hubs.” For more from Zayo Europe, click here.

RETN to offer 400G port connectivity

RETN, an independent global network services provider, has announced that it has become the first reseller of AMS-IX to offer connectivity over a 400G port. The new 400G port allows RETN to expedite the connection process for larger bandwidth connectivity to the AMS-IX peering fabric, removing the need for dedicated ports for those customers with 100G requirements, with the added benefit of improved overall energy efficiency. By utilising 400G ports, RETN can efficiently manage resources while offering customers greater flexibility and scalability. William Manzione, Product Manager at RETN, comments, “The connectivity market has reached a tipping point with 400G wavelengths. By becoming the first AMS-IX reseller with a 400G port, RETN reinforces its commitment to delivering state-of-the-art solutions and expanding density to provide more competitive services. “This advancement empowers businesses with high-availability, 100% diverse fibre routes, and industry-leading service provision times. At the same time, in response to prolonged subsea outages, RETN is strategically expanding its 100G capacity across a broader selection of subsea routes, ensuring both resilience against potential disruptions and minimising delays in deploying new technology.” This milestone follows RETN's recent Pan-European upgrade, which introduced 400 Gbps wavelengths across its extensive 135,000km fibre network. RETN was also recognised as the Best AMS-IX Reseller for 2023 and continues to expand its Remote-IX service. This includes ‘One Port,' which allows customers to connect to multiple IXs through a single physical port.

EXA Infrastructure launches Managed Fibre Network offering

EXA Infrastructure has today announced the launch of its Managed Fibre Network (MFN) service to address market demands for increased connectivity and shorter service delivery times. This dedicated offering represents a turn-key solution that outsources the design, installation, and maintenance of fibre networks for customers that do not possess these capabilities in-house or in-region. MFN provides the benefits of dark fibre and equipment ownership including the highest levels of scalability at the lowest unit economics, without incurring the associated administration, technical and operational resourcing costs of in-house delivery. Driven by advancements in AI, cloud computing, content transmission, and big data, networks need to scale to meet growing demands rapidly. EXA Infrastructure's MFN offering enables companies to fill network gaps, connect data centres and cable landing stations, and rapidly scale into markets quickly and effortlessly. The service is currently available in 29 European countries, plus the US and Canada. With over 155,000 kilometres of fibre across 37 countries, more than 500 points of presence, and years of experience in network management, EXA Infrastructure is uniquely positioned to deliver tailored interconnection solutions to specific customer demands across Europe, North America, and beyond. Steve Roberts, VP, Strategic Investments and Product Management at EXA Infrastructure, comments, “EXA Infrastructure has managed networks for its customers for years, so this is the company's bread and butter. EXA's extensive network, combined with extensive experience in managing different variations of subsea services for customers, means that its engineers and NOC staff are well poised to deliver best in breed service across MFN customers. “EXA Infrastructure is thrilled to launch its MFN offering today and looks forward to continuing to support its customers to meet the never-ending demand for connectivity.” For more from EXA Infrastructure, click here.

CMC Networks rolls out platform in Africa and Middle East

CMC Networks, a global Tier 1 service provider, has rolled out its CMC Fusion networking platform across 51 African and 11 Middle Eastern countries. It will enable carriers, service providers and enterprises to provision and manage network services across these regions from anywhere in the world, simplifying business growth across dynamic markets. CMC Fusion is a cloud-based platform that consolidates multiple network services and analytics into a single portal and marketplace, including MPLS, Carrier Ethernet, Dedicated Internet Access (DIA), multi-cloud connect, software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN), service monitoring, assurance, security, management, and more. The easy-to-use portal is built on the largest application-aware, AI-enabled and software-defined network (SDN) in Africa. It is aligned with global industry standards to ensure interoperability and provide support with regulatory compliance. “CMC Fusion is transforming what was once a complex, costly and fragmented market into one unified networking ecosystem,” says Marisa Trisolino, CEO at CMC Networks. “The company is developing a platform that is making it easier than ever to do business across Africa and the Middle East.” CMC Fusion enables seamless, consistent performance and application experience for customers connecting across multiple countries and clouds in Africa and the Middle East. It provides a consolidated view of all information and analytics, making it easy for customers to track their orders, tickets, and services. Round-the-clock network monitoring enables fast identification and troubleshooting of any potential problems. Carriers, service providers and enterprises can move with greater agility to connect and capture new growth opportunities across multiple markets. Geoff Dornan, CTO at CMC Networks, adds, “In an increasingly cloud-centric world, CMC Networks is removing the borders and barriers to growth in Africa and the Middle East and innovating to directly address on-the-ground challenges where the company operates. CMC Networks is looking forward to making it even easier for its customers to grow their businesses across these regions.” CMC Cloud is one of the many solutions available through CMC Fusion, delivering high-performance edge computing across Africa. The Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) solution is designed to bring workloads closer to the end user and improve the performance of applications and services, without the need to invest in physical hardware. CMC Networks has the largest pan-African network servicing 51 out of 54 countries in Africa and 11 countries in the Middle East, plus regional hubs in key interconnect locations across Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. For more from CMC Networks, click here.

Spirent introduces 5G Fixed Wireless Access testing services

Spirent Communications, a provider of test and assurance solutions for next-generation devices and networks, has announced its new 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) testing services. Spirent’s 5G FWA solutions offer comprehensive lab-based 5G/Wi-Fi gateway testing and live network competitive benchmarking to enable communications service providers (CSPs) and device manufacturers to better optimise quality of experience (QoE) and differentiate their offerings in an increasingly competitive market. Accelerating 5G FWA adoption is seeing demand for rigorous network performance evaluation grow rapidly, with more than 200 CSPs launching home services and 20 CSPs introducing 5G FWA business offerings. Spirent’s new services for 5G FWA address this growing global demand by offering cutting-edge solutions that provide critical insights into user experience and enable operators to drive revenue growth with enhanced customer satisfaction. “5G FWA represents a growing trend and significant opportunity for CSPs to expand their revenue streams,” says Stephen Douglas, Head of Market Strategy at Spirent. “Expanding its monetisation potential means making testing of the user experience a priority and that’s what our latest solutions offer. It will also potentially save service providers, device, and network vendors millions of dollars in troubleshooting costs by enabling them to identify problems earlier in the development cycle.” Spirent’s solutions utilise the company’s proven methodologies and global cloud-based measurement systems to enable service providers and vendors to optimise services for premium QoE delivery, as well as confidentially and reliably benchmark competitive services to substantiate their own performance claims. With expertise in both lab and live environments, these latest offerings are another way in which Spirent is helping customers to rapidly launch, optimise and monetise 5G networks. Spirent’s 5G FWA solutions deliver actionable insights through extensive testing across multiple user scenarios, including: • General data and web browsing• VoWiFi (Voice over Wi-Fi)• Video streaming QoE• Cloud gaming QoE• RF environment characterisation With this approach, CSPs gain a more comprehensive understanding of their FWA service performance compared to others in the market. With benchmark testing tailored to the specific needs of each provider, Spirent is able to provide data that reflects the real-world user experience and quickly and accurately target areas for optimisation. In addition to enhancing customer satisfaction, the solution helps CSPs improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and optimise their infrastructure to better serve users during times of peak and off-peak demand. For more from Spirent, click here.

prplMesh deployments for 'whole home' Wi-Fi networks

Homes and businesses are closer to enjoying robust, easily manageable ‘whole home’ Wi-Fi networks thanks to the first-ever prplMesh deployment by Sagemcom, the prpl Foundation has announced today. The first operator deployment of prplMesh - the open-source Wi-Fi mesh solution - reflects a significant step towards the concept of ‘services-led broadband’ and sees cutting-edge services and features provided to seven operators across Europe, Oceania, and the Middle East. Thanks to the integration of prplMesh Wi-Fi stack, smart Wi-Fi devices such as routers and extenders can be easily linked to a home network. “This is a major milestone for open-source innovation, bringing future-proof, open, and reliable interoperability to home networks,” says prpl Foundation President Dr. Len Dauphinee. “prplMesh makes it easy for operators to deploy customised Wi-Fi services, ensuring service differentiation and new revenue streams. On the consumer side, the whole Wi-Fi experience is improved; it is easy to add devices into the network and they can access smart Wi-Fi services through their home broadband at the touch of a button. We are proud to have contributed to the world’s first deployments with our valued member Sagemcom.” Based on the prpl Foundation open-source project, the prplMesh software stack is a platform-independent, multi-vendor, open-source implementation of EasyMesh. It includes a high-level Application Programming Interface (API) to offer carrier-grade management for both local and remote cloud applications and services. Through prplMesh, operators can enable the customisation of specific Wi-Fi services by delivering smart Wi-Fi applications. As a result, they can select only the most suitable options for their requirements, while delivering innovative services to end users. “The use and support of open-source software has been a key driver in our business strategies, and we are proud to be the first global manufacturer to deploy prplMesh,” comments Executive Vice President of Sagemcom, Boris Nabedryk. “By leveraging the collective expertise of the prpl Foundation’s diverse community, we have delivered a more secure, reliable, and adaptable solution to meet customer demands worldwide. Our ongoing work with the prpl Foundation continues to drive the broadband industry forward, and we look forward to future innovations to come.” The solution is compatible with multiple router software platforms such as prplOS and Sagemcom software, enabling greater portability for different service providers, while ensuring support for the latest smart Wi-Fi applications.

90% of cybersecurity incidents could be avoided, survey reveals

Organisations are navigating a landscape of mixed emotions as the Network and Information Security Directive 2022/2555 (NIS2) enforcement date approaches. A regulation that's aimed at strengthening cybersecurity across the EU by expanding the scope and increasing the rigour of security requirements, NIS2 goes into effect on 18 October 2024. Veeam Software, the data resilience expert, commissioned a new survey from Censuswide that revealed that only 43% of EMEA IT decision-makers believe NIS2 will significantly enhance EU cybersecurity. This is despite an overwhelming 90% of respondents reporting at least one security incident that the NIS2 directive could have prevented in the past 12 months. Alarmingly, 44% of respondents experienced more than three cyber incidents, with 65% of those categorised as “highly critical”. The survey results, which encompass the views of over 500 IT decision-makers from Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK, revealed the state of play less than a month before this directive takes effect. Although nearly 80% of businesses are confident in their ability to eventually comply with NIS2 guidelines, up to two-thirds state they will miss this imminent deadline. Barriers to NIS2 compliance Achieving NIS2 compliance requires businesses to implement essential measures, such as defining incident response plans, securing supply chains, assessing vulnerabilities, and evaluating overall security levels. This includes all affiliated organisations, partners, and supply chains. However, several barriers to compliance persist. Key challenges cited by IT decision-makers include technical debt (24%), lack of leadership understanding (23%), and insufficient budget/investments (21%). Notably, 40% of respondents reported decreased IT budgets since the political agreement for NIS2 was proclaimed effective in January 2023, despite its stringent penalties, which are comparable to those of the EU's flagship data privacy legislation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 63% of respondents view the GDPR as strict, and 62% express the same sentiment about NIS2. Competitive pressures amid cyberthreats The slow pace of NIS2 adoption is likely due to the multitude of competing priorities and business pressures that face these organisations. Respondents rank NIS2 lower in urgency than 10 other issues, including the skills gap, profitability, and digital transformation. Worryingly, 42% of respondents who consider NIS2 insignificant for EU cybersecurity improvements attribute this to inadequate consequences of non-compliance, which has led to widespread apathy towards the directive. Additional key findings from the survey include: 74% of respondents see NIS2 as beneficial, but 57% doubt it will have any substantial impact on overall EU cybersecurity posture. Sceptics cite additional concerns such as NIS2's lack of comprehensiveness (35%), belief that compliance doesn’t guarantee security (34%), and overlap with existing regulations (25%). Other barriers include a lack of focus on NIS2 compliance (20%), tight timelines (19%), cybersecurity skills shortage (19%), directive complexity (19%), and organisational silos (19%). Despite conflicting views, most respondents perceive NIS2 positively in the context of their organisation's regulatory obligations, feeling optimistic (33%), confident (32%), and encouraged (27%). Andre Troskie, EMEA Field CISO at Veeam, states, “NIS2 brings responsibility for cybersecurity beyond IT teams into the boardroom. While many businesses recognise the importance of this directive, the struggle to comply found in the survey highlights significant systemic issues. The combined pressures of other business priorities and IT challenges can explain the delays, but this does not lessen the urgency. “Given the rising frequency and severity of cyberthreats, the potential benefits of NIS2 in preventing critical incidents and bolstering data resilience can't be overstated. Leadership teams must act swiftly to bridge these gaps and ensure compliance, not just for regulatory sake but to genuinely enhance organisational robustness and safeguard critical data.” For more from Veeam, click here.

Efforts underway to deliver more energy-efficient fibre networks

Fibre service providers have been given a boost in their pursuit of more energy-efficient networks that can unlock significant power savings, thanks to a new project launched by Broadband Forum. Initially driven by BT Group, Orange, Calix, Futurewei, Huawei, and Nokia, the project will seek to lower energy consumption when accessing the internet. The project, titled ‘Energy Power Saving Requirements, Test Plan, and Data Model’ from the Broadband Forum’s Fibre Access Network (FAN) Work Area, will see a number of Broadband Forum’s standards and specifications incorporate these new energy saving requirements for the industry to adhere to. This builds on the ITU-T Supplement 45, G series which published recommendations and guidelines on power-saving in Passive Optical Networks (PON) equipment. Hugues Le Bras, Network Engineer in Fixed Access Networks at Orange and Editor of the project, explains, "Energy efficiency in fixed broadband equipment is essential for reducing power costs and CO2 emissions for operators and their customers. As the demand for high-speed connectivity continues to rise, it becomes crucial that FTTH networks operate sustainably, ensuring connectivity empowers the end user as well as nurturing the planet. To achieve this, the new project outlines power saving requirements, power measurement monitoring and testing methods that are needed to unlock greater energy efficiency. “We need service providers to commit to lower energy consumption, equipment and component vendors to comply to these targets, and test labs to test the interoperability and functionality of protocol specific power saving methodologies once agreed on.” The project, which is set to publish its specification in Summer 2025, will encourage the development of technologies that satisfy the power-saving requirements, test plan, and data model it sets out. A key focus is the development of power-saving functionality of Optical Network Units (ONUs) and Optical Line Terminals (OLTs). Even though FTTH networks offer improved energy efficiency compared to legacy copper networks, ONUs still typically consume a substantial amount of power, when active and even when idle, which can cause power leakages. ONU power shedding, which is the reduction of power for non-essential functions while ensuring an operational optical link, and watchful sleep modes which ensures only the relevant hardware remains on will be included in the scope of work. “The fibre industry continues to look at methods to become more energy-efficient and by incorporating these power-saving recommendations into our existing Broadband Forum specifications, service providers have the blueprint to tackle the issue head-on when it comes to lowering their carbon footprints,” says Marta Seda, Calix and FAN Work Area Director at Broadband Forum. For more from Broadband Forum, click here.