SSE Enterprise Telecoms, a UK-wide high capacity network and connectivity provider, has announced a new critical network contract with Jisc, a digital technology supplier for the education and research sector in the UK. The agreement includes the launch of the Janet South network and an extension of the UK Backbone network partnership, providing data-intensive research centres access to significant bandwidth and speeds of up to 100 Gbps.
Colin Sempill, Managing Director, SSE Enterprise Telecoms, said: “Through utilising our expansive network and industry expertise, Jisc has been able to provide vital connectivity to some of the UK’s most critical education and research facilities. Thanks to our high capacity, low latency services these institutions can collaborate across the UK and the globe.”
“We’re very excited to announce the launch of the Janet South Network partnership and further extension of the UK backbone network, which will keep vital institutions producing ground-breaking research and development for years to come, particularly as 5G and internet-enabled devices become more mainstream,” Sempill added.
Following the extension of a pre-existing contract between the two companies, Jisc’s UK backbone network will utilize SSE Enterprise Telecoms’s core fiber network for a further nine years until 2028. Furthermore, this digital partnership will upgrade the Janet South network as part of a program to develop new Janet Network access infrastructure. The rollout will see seven BT exchanges unbundled, and will use four existing Points of Presence (PoPs) to provide improved connectivity to 11 UK universities and 80 local colleges.
By working closely with SSE Enterprise Telecoms for almost 20 years, Jisc has managed to provide the critical connectivity required for many UK education and research institutions, including access to CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. These partnership developments will ensure Jisc has the continued support of SSE Enterprise Telecoms’ respected and secure network for another decade.
Jeremy Sharp, Janet Infrastructure Director, said: “The relationship between Jisc and SSE Enterprise Telecoms originated in the early 2000s and, nearly 20 years later, the relationship continues to grow from strength-to-strength. A substantial level of trust has built up between our two companies and these new network contracts show our continued commitment to further develop this relationship.”
“Over the past decade, we have rolled out a series of projects that have involved complex network design challenges and the SSE Enterprise Telecoms team has always stood up to the challenge, providing reliable and diverse networks, and excelled at meeting all expectations,” Sharp added.
