The Department of Finance has selected international network services provider PacketExchange to provide internet access for users of the government virtual private network (GVPN).
PacketExchange is able to offer government employees a combination of multi-homed internet protocol (IP) transit connectivity and direct wide area peering via its ProXimity service. This complementary mix of services ensures that users of the GVPN will have the best possible access to information over the public internet. One of the first groups to avail of this service is the institutes of technology.
ProXimity allows users to bypass the public internet to connect directly to other members of the PacketExchange community, in excess of 600 in number, to achieve faster connections, providing lower latency and more security. It is understood that some of the world’s largest content and distribution networks use the company’s network to increase global reach and boost network efficiency. These include Microsoft, Blue Square, Yahoo! and Telewest.
This deployment follows PacketExchange’s significant investment in Ireland through the creation of the first International Internet Exchange, I2X, in Dublin that last July, allowing businesses, internet service providers and content providers to benefit from PacketExchange’s suite of international connectivity services. These services are provided over the resilient submarine cable that links London and Dublin providing PacketExchange 5Gbps of telecoms connectivity.
The multi-homed IP transit platform allows customers to procure resilient access to multiple tier one IP transit providers connected to the PacketExchange network, providing users with the ability to choose the right providers for their evolving needs rather than being tied to a single IP transit upstream network for their contract term. This flexibility puts control of communications requirements back in the hands of the users and provides significant economies of scale when purchasing by offering a single contract for the total bandwidth requirement rather than splitting it over multiple contracts.
According to PacketExchange’s CEO Kieron O’Brien, this flexibility puts control of communications requirements back in the hands of the users and provides significant economies of scale when purchasing by offering a single contract for the total bandwidth requirement rather than splitting it over multiple contracts.
“This contract reinforces the message that our market-leading product suite is bringing tangible benefits to Ireland, both to business and the public sector,” O’Brien said. “We moved our head office to Dublin in November 2004 and are looking forward to increasing our activity base here through 2005, growing our presence both as a service provider and as an employer”.
Last week it emerged that Cazenove Private Equity became the latest private investor to back PacketExchange, pumping some £3m sterling in exchange for a minority stake in the company and a board seat. Other investors in the company include Bank of Scotland Equity and GPX.
“This additional key investment justifies the faith investors have in PacketExchange and the results to come,” said O’Brien. “These newly secured assets will help us to maintain our strong business momentum and nearly 100pc year-on-year sales growth.”
By John Kennedy
