Eurobites: EXA Infrastructure launches managed fiber service

Also in today's EMEA regional roundup: VEON moves HQ to Dubai; Nokia, Windstream and Colt combine on 800GbE trial; MTN hooks up with Ayoba for digital ads.

Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe

October 14, 2024

3 Min Read
Optical fiber lines transmitting data with bright light
(Source: Cinefootage Visuals/Alamy Stock Photo)
  • London-based EXA Infrastructure has launched its Managed Fibre Network (MFN) service across Europe, as well as in the US and Canada. MFN effectively outsources the design, installation and maintenance of fiber networks for customers who are not confident of doing it themselves or don't fancy the costs associated with in-house network management. EXA lays claims to 155,000km of fiber stretching across 37 countries.

  • VEON, the operator that has interests in a diverse range of countries including Bangladesh, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, is to shift its headquarters from rain-sodden Amsterdam to the sun-dried millionaires' playground that is Dubai. Kaan Terzioglu, group CEO of VEON, said the decision to relocate to Dubai moved the company closer to its key markets and lent it "enhanced visibility with a broad base of Gulf investors."

  • Nokia, Windstream Wholesale and Colt Technology Services have joined forces to complete what they say is the world's first 800GbE optical and IP service trial connecting London and Chicago. The field trial involved connecting one of Colt's five transatlantic subsea cables and part of its terrestrial fiber network with Windstream Wholesale's domestic US low latency Intelligent Converged Optical Network (ICON), using Nokia's Photonic Service Engine (PSE-6s) coherent optics and 7750 Service Router (SR) routing platforms.

  • South Africa's MTN is teaming up with messaging app Ayoba to launch MTN Ads, a digital advertising platform intended to help businesses engage with their target audiences more effectively. Aleph, an advertising agency operating in more than 140 countries, has been hired to promote the MTN Ads service.

  • Zayo Europe is expanding its German presence through an agreement with Gasline, a dark fiber network provider. Zayo will use part of Gasline's national dark ring network, enabling its 400G optical network and Tier 1 IP backbone across key German hubs, including Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Berlin.

  • Openreach, the wholesale network access arm of UK operator BT, has announced a further 79 new exchange locations where it plans to halt the sale of traditional copper-based phone and broadband services under the "Stop Sell" rule, which is triggered when 75% of premises connected to a particular exchange can get "ultrafast" full-fiber broadband.

  • Austria-based A1 Group is making the SkyShowtime streaming service part of its TV offer in Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and North Macedonia. SkyShowtime is a joint venture between US giants Comcast and Paramount Global.

  • Somali operators Hormuud Telecom and Golis Telecom met up over the weekend with NGOs and development partners for a workshop aimed at expanding the role of mobile-enabled technology in delivering humanitarian aid. The event was held in partnership with the GSMA.

  • The Global Leaders' Forum, a lobby group for major players in the connectivity world, has elected Emmanuel Rochas, CEO of Orange Wholesale International, as chair of the GLF board. Rochas succeeds Elisabetta Romano, former CEO of Sparkle and current chief technology and operations officer at FiberCop, who has served as the GLF chair since 2022.

  • For the third year running Swiss operator Salt has seen off larger rivals to come up trumps in the tariff category of the Swiss Institute for Quality Tests' ranking of broadband providers.

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About the Author

Paul Rainford

Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

Paul is based on the Isle of Wight, a rocky outcrop off the English coast that is home only to a colony of technology journalists and several thousand puffins.

He has worked as a writer and copy editor since the age of William Caxton, covering the design industry, D-list celebs, tourism and much, much more.

During the noughties Paul took time out from his page proofs and marker pens to run a small hotel with his other half in the wilds of Exmoor. There he developed a range of skills including carrying cooked breakfasts, lying to unwanted guests and stopping leaks with old towels.

Now back, slightly befuddled, in the world of online journalism, Paul is thoroughly engaged with the modern world, regularly firing up his VHS video recorder and accidentally sending text messages to strangers using a chipped Nokia feature phone.

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