Colt Intros International GigE Service

LONDON -- COLT Telecom announces that its first-to-market international Ethernet service, and its national equivalent, have been expanded to a 1Gbps capacity. This has been driven by the success of COLT's LANLink International and LANLink National products - launched last April - and an identified demand for leading high-speed disaster recovery services.

Last year Gartner predicted that by 2005, over 30% of high-speed telecoms Wide Area Network (WAN) services would use Ethernet. COLT has seen at least 200 new customers for its LANLink International and LANLink National Ethernet services in its first year.

Many companies use the simplicity of Ethernet as a stage to migrating towards IP VPN solutions. Others use high bandwidth Ethernet to provide secure and fast connections as part of a business continuity and disaster recovery solution. Analysts have identified the business continuity and disaster recovery market as a growth area. The market will be fuelled in particular by the financial sector - a traditional area of strength for COLT - which is obliged to store its data securely under the new Basel II Accord to minimise operational risks.

Daryl Szebesta, Director of Data Services and Systems Outsourcing at COLT said: "Offering 1Gbps bandwidth with our international and national Ethernet solutions is a natural evolution of our service, responding to customer demand and their growing disaster recovery requirements. COLT is well positioned to meet customer needs in this area, having been first-to-market with international Ethernet and a stronghold in the financial services market".

"The reach of our pan-European network, across 13 countries and 32 cities makes us the perfect choice for any financial institution looking to meet regulatory pressures under the Basel II Accord. Basel II is the financial community's Y2K and companies like COLT - with its track record in providing solutions for the likes of SWIFT and numerous European stock exchanges - have the capability to meet their needs in time for the 2006 deadline."

Colt Telecom Group plc