The city of Cork’s digital aspirations have been given a welcome boost with the news that global data network operator Colt has connected the city to mainland Europe via its 43,000 km dedicated network.
The extension will meet the growing bandwidth requirements of multinational companies operating across Cork’s ICT, pharmaceutical and financial services sectors.
It follows Colt’s completion of a new low-latency route between Dublin and London last year, a key component of a multimillion-euro, five-year programme of investment by Colt across Europe.
Now fully operational, the additional connectivity allows both indigenous and multinational companies to deliver information at fast speeds between Cork and mainland Europe through Colt’s 43,000 km dedicated network, which includes direct connections to more than 100 European cities and 39 metropolitan area networks.
“Cork is an exciting place for Colt because of its substantial potential to grow as a hub for large multinationals, particularly in the well-established ICT and pharmaceutical sectors,” said Colt’s country manager for Ireland Ken Sherry.
“By extending our network to Cork, we’re making a strong statement of confidence in the region and its ability to prosper in the inward investment space thanks to its business-friendly environment and skilled workforce.”
“Requirements for data bandwidth continue to increase exponentially every year, driven largely by growth in data intensive applications. In Cork, many of the larger enterprises operating out of the region are truly global in nature, with operations spanning many European sites.
“This means the majority of the data network bandwidth involves traffic between Cork and other major European cities, such as London, Frankfurt and Zurich,” Sherry said.
Fibre connectivity is a spur for future investment in Irish cities and regions
Colt is already a supplier of high-bandwidth data services and backbone solutions into Europe for Irish-led multinationals, as well as multinational companies, such as global provider of audio and web meeting solutions PGi.
“Colt’s continued infrastructure investment in Ireland is a welcome development for PGi’s local operation in Clonakilty, helping us deliver the highest quality of integrated conferencing solutions to our customers around the world,” said Michael Palmer, PGi’s senior vice-president of operations for EMEA, Canada and India.
“This additional connectivity helps position Cork as a prime location for multinationals requiring a fast and robust gateway to Colt’s European long-distance network infrastructure to support our customers’ business needs. We see significant opportunities for future growth both in Cork and other key cities in Ireland and plan to continue to invest in our network to meet this demand.”
