SSE Enterprise Telecoms – the UK’s leading provider of network infrastructure services, and part of the SSE Group – has revealed the latest two data centres to be added to its national fibre network. Customers of Ark and Datum’s data centres, which are both located in Farnborough, will now have access to SSE Enterprise Telecoms’ full range of Carrier Ethernet, dark fibre and optical networking services.
SSE Enterprise Telecoms is committed to investing in strategically placed data centres and exchanges as part of the ongoing expansion of its network footprint. It already has more than 70 commercial data centres on-net. This continuing expansion is in response to increased demand for high capacity and the need for low latency, resilient services that support organisations’ connectivity requirements both now and in the future.
The addition of these two facilities is in-line with SSE Enterprise Telecoms’ commitment to bringing top quality data centres in prime locations onto the network. Indeed, the two Farnborough sites offer data centre occupiers the advantage of a close link into London whilst set outside the M25.
“We’re delighted that our data centre customers at our flagship facility in the QinetiQ Cody Technology Park – which include high profile public sector and financial services organisations – will have access to SSE Enterprise Telecoms’ suite of highly resilient and high capacity networking services,” said Liam Mitchell, Data Centre Manager at Datum. “Our customers demand always-on, highly robust services; their business models cannot tolerate any amount of downtime. SSE Enterprise Telecoms’ network, with its well-earned reputation for engineering excellence, provides a number of great connectivity options for our risk-adverse customers.”
Jason Liggins, CTO at Ark Data Centres added: “Our customer base is predominantly wholesale, comprising large enterprises, Managed Service Providers, Systems Integrators and central Government organisations; all of whom require significant assurances regarding security and availability of services. Our involvement in the Crown Hosting Data Centres Framework – a joint venture with the Cabinet Office to deliver high value data centre capacity at the highest assurance levels – in particular, made SSE Enterprise Telecoms a good fit for us given its heritage as a trusted network provider.”
Since lighting up the two Farnborough facilities, SSE Enterprise Telecoms has signed its first deal with Efar, a Southern Communications Group Company, to deliver a 10Gbps wave between Ark and Equinix LD5 in Slough. “The speed of implementation and strong project delivery expertise from SSE Enterprise Telecoms has been impressive,” said Matt Wring, Chief Technical Officer at Efar. “Our account team has been excellent in communicating progress with us and managing the project. What’s more, the connection has proved to be reliable and cost-effective.”
“By connecting both Ark and Datum’s top quality data centres, we’re continuing the momentum of our ambitious expansion plans to bring our networking solutions to the most strategically placed facilities in the UK,” said Colin Sempill, Managing Director of SSE Enterprise Telecoms. “As a company that prides itself on delivering the best possible class of connectivity for organisations with no tolerance to risk or downtime, we intend to continue to extend our reach to more prime business postcodes and leading facilities across the UK.”
