Zayo to provide O2 UK with managed fiber-based backhaul network

Zayo has won a deal to provide O2 a managed fiber network throughout the UK, the latest of several moves that build on the momentum it has gained in Europe from its acquisition of Geo Networks and related network builds.

Leveraging the Geo Networks fiber facilities, this 4,500 route km network spans from Glasgow to Salisbury and incorporates 19 connectivity points around the UK.

For O2, the 15-year agreement with Zayo marks a shift for the service provider from legacy SDH and Ethernet-based managed services to a dedicated fiber-based network which connects its mobile switching centers across the network.

The national network will incorporate towns and cities around the UK including Slough, Croydon, Newcastle and London.

Similar to U.S.-based operators like Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ), O2 is migrating to a dedicated fiber-based network to gain more capacity to keep with customer consumption of voice and data on its 4G wireless network.

"With the O2 4G network now covering over 260 towns and cities and half of the UK population, there has been unprecedented growth in the amount of data traffic transmitted across the network," said Adrian Di Meo, CTO for O2, in a release. "A year after the launch of our 4G network, it has already carried a total of 5,400 Terabytes of 4G data, which is the equivalent of 8 million hours of HD video."

Winning this deal is meaningful for Zayo, particularly as it gives it a proof point that its acquisition of Geo Networks can be used to attract large wholesale customers like O2. This is the second large deal Zayo has signed in the UK in recent months. Besides O2, Zayo also signed a deal to bring dark fiber, wavelength services to UK provider TalkTalk in June, enabling the competitive provider to offer its quad-play set of services to 4 million UK customers.

For more:
- see the release

Related articles:
Zayo adds 93 route miles to its hometown Boulder, Colo., network
Zayo's IPO soars as investors bet on business demand for high-speed broadband
Zayo extends 100G services throughout European long-haul network
Zayo brings dark fiber, wavelength services to UK provider TalkTalk