LONDON, Feb. 19, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Telia International Carrier has strengthened its position in the UK telecom market by expanding its fully owned Viking Network through the purchase of the assets of 360 networks (UK) Ltd. (in administration). The purchase significantly extends Telia's existing network in the UK and forms the basis of further expansion plans in the region.
Through the deal with 360 networks (UK) Ltd (in administration), Telia International Carrier gets access to an extensive, high capacity network and becomes one of the major players on the UK market both in terms of market share and network presence.
The agreement comprises of fibres and co-location sites. With a 216 fibre cable going west from London to Reading and Bristol, north to Birmingham and Manchester, east to Leeds, south towards Peterborough, Cambridge and then back to London. The total length of fibre cables is 1,200 trunk kilometres, plus 300-kilometres of metro routes in Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Leicester, Cambridge, Reading and Birmingham.
Telia International Carrier can offer high quality colocation at ten colocation facilities along the network route. In addition, the dark fibre network will provide the basis for the roll-out of Telia International Carrier's SDH and IP network, which will support the full range of sophisticated services, including the IP VPN.
- It's a great advantage for us to expand the Viking Network with a country-ring in one of Europe's strongest economies. The investment in the UK is a manifestation of our long-term strategy to keep our position as one of the leading carriers in Europe, says Erik Heilborn, CEO of Telia International Carrier.
The purchase of the asset represents a few per cent of Telia International Carrier's planned investments for 2002.
The Viking Network is Telia International Carrier's fully owned global network. It is one of the largest cross border fibre optic networks, connecting 50 key cities in EU and the US and covering some 40,000 route kilometres of lit fibres. The purchase of the network assets of 360 networks adds to Telia International Carrier's fully diverse SDH/DWDM network in the UK.
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