Commsworld has passed a major milestone as it switched on the final link in the ultra-fast optical core network that connects all of the British mainland's internet exchanges.
The Edinburgh company made Huddersfield the 91st point of presence (PoP) in its network that completes a £10 million investment.
The network connects exchanges including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and London, which Commsworld says has made it the UK’s largest independent network provider.
Managing director Bruce Strang said: “Adding this final PoP to our network marks the culmination of years of hard work, and is a landmark moment for Commsworld. It means we can offer a unique, more local service to any organisations that want it – a true, cohesive, end-to-end optical network.”
Commsworld says the dark fibre it uses allows for low latency levels, offering speeds of up to 200 Gigabits per second. To allow optical signals to travel at that speed all over the country, it needed to position PoPs at intervals of around 80km across it the UK.
Strang added: “This has been one of our main objectives and we have achieved it. It means businesses are not limited by their location – they will have access to uniform speeds of up to 10GB. We are very much looking forward to seeing dramatically faster and more robust connections flourishing across all parts of the UK.”
Commsworld was founded in 1994 and now has offices in Edinburgh, London, Glasgow and Aberdeen with more than 100 staff operating across public and private sector contracts.
Chief executive Ricky Nicol said rural areas which have suffered from poor internet coverage would see an enormous benefit.
He said: “Access to excellent internet connections, whether for domestic customers or business customers, is fast becoming a human right.
“To add this final PoP to our network in Huddersfield in a tremendous achievement. This makes us unique and means we can provide a more local service than many of our rivals.
“We firmly believe every corner of Britain should have access to the same ultra-fast connectivity as businesses in the big cities like London, Leeds and Edinburgh.”
