Colt becomes first carrier to link to Barcelona CLS with the ability to connect to Europe’s major digital hubs.
This agreement between AFR-IX and Colt will enable the multinational to strengthen its connections to the main European routes
Barcelona (Spain), 26th January 2023. Colt Technology Services (Colt), the digital infrastructure company, today announced the connection of its award-winning intelligent Colt IQ Network to the Barcelona Cable Landing Station (Barcelona CLS). Colt becomes first carrier to link to Barcelona CLS of AFR-IX telecom. The new CLS has been built by African internet exchange AFR-IX Telecom which is already using Colt’s network in the African market to provide an internet service to African operators and customers to connect them to European data centers via Colt’s routes.
Colt operates in more than 220 cities in over 30 countries and connects more than 1,000 data centres and over 31,000 connected buildings in the largest business centres in Europe, Asia and North America. Colt’s network in Spain and Portugal is already serving Lisbon, Bilbao, Madrid and Barcelona, and has 13 connection points to data centers in Barcelona.
Connection with the major European digital hubs
Colt will be able to offer, from Barcelona CLS, services like data centre interconnection (Data Centre Interconnect), inter-network traffic exchange (IP Transit) or dark fibre (non-active fibre optic circuits that enable the capacity of customers to be expanded in times of need).
Colt will enable Barcelona CLS to connect to Europe’s major digital hubs (Paris, London, Frankfurt) and provide an express terrestrial route to other key regional cable landing stations such as Lisbon, Bilbao and Marseilles, installing new submarine cables and capacity in the US, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
In addition, the Colt deal is an example of how Barcelona CLS is shaping the digital ecosystem needed to build a competitive digital hub in Southern Europe.
Christian Schmidt, Colt’s Network Expansion Manager for Spain, said: “Colt is participating in the repositioning of the Iberian Peninsula as a European digital hub, becoming a key player in the connections between America, Asia, Africa and Europe. To avoid saturation in Europe, the peninsula has become an essential hub to diversify connectivity. The Barcelona landing station for submarine cables will position the Iberian peninsula geo-strategically as a key access point to Europe.”
Norman Albi, CEO of AFR-IX telecom, said: “We are very proud that Colt, with whom AFR-IX telecom has had a long-standing business relationship, will be part of the Barcelona CLS project, as it will represent a major deployment of the station’s activity, which opened in October. With Colt, we are sure that other operators will follow, as synergies are very important in this sector”.
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